Update: Winning $2.04B Powerball ticket sold in Southern California
SAN FRANCISCO -- After a long and confusing evening waiting for the Powerball drawing, California Lottery officials announced Tuesday morning that a winning ticket worth $2.04 billion was sold in Altadena.
After an overnight delay in the draw, officials finally released the winning numbers for the record drawing Tuesday morning. They were 10-33-41-47-56-10.
While officials initially announced there was no jackpot winner, the California Lottery Twitter account later confirmed that a winning ticket had in fact been sold at Joe's Service Center in Altadena.
Officials also said there were three more tickets matched five of the numbers drawn -- missing just the Powerball number -- in Gardena, Beaumont, and San Francisco.
Those near miss tickets were worth $1.1 million each and sold at:
- Stues Dairy located at 13126 South Western Avenue in Gardena (Los Angeles County)
- Oak Valley 76 located at 1815 Oak Valley Village Circle in Beaumont (Riverside County)
- 1001 Castro Street (Grocery and Liquor Store) located at 1001 Castro Street in San Francisco.
The $2.04 billion jackpot was by far the largest lottery prize ever won, topping the previous record $1.586 billion prize won by three Powerball ticketholders in 2016. Only four previous jackpots have topped $1 billion, but none of those are close to the current prize, which started at $20 million back on Aug. 6 and has grown over three winless months. No one has won the jackpot since Aug. 3.
For selling the winning ticket, Joe's Service Center owner Joe Chahayed will receive a maximum Powerball bonus of $1 million.
"I'm very surprised. Very excited. Very happy," said Chahayed, who wore a bright yellow California Lottery shirt and cap.
Chahayed said he didn't know who won the giant prize but hopes it's someone local.
"I wish I knew the person but most people who buy tickets from me are from the neighborhood. I hope one of them will be the winner," he said.
Chahayed said he would spend his $1 million on his five children and donate some to the community.
Thomas Murrell said he had stopped at Joe's Tuesday morning with the intention of buying gas and $200 worth of Powerball tickets, in case no one had won the giant jackpot.
"I know Joe. I've known him for years and talk to him all the time," Murrell said. "Joe's always been a lucky guy. He's a good guy. I'm not surprised it happened here."
The drama surrounding Monday's draw began moments after the ticket sale window closed. Ticketholders who visited powerball.com to see the drawing and the winning numbers were greeted by a graphic that said, "results pending.
Later, the Multi-State Lottery Association released a statement to the Associated Press saying the results of drawing scheduled for Monday may not be known until Tuesday morning. The winning numbers and video of the drawing will be posted on the Powerball website and YouTube channel, the statement said.
Lottery officials blamed the delay on security protocols. The California Lottery Twitter account posted about the issue shortly after 8 p.m.
"Tonight's Powerball® drawing has been delayed due to a participating lottery needing extra time to complete the required security protocols," the statement said. "Powerball has strict security requirements that must be met by all 48 lotteries before a drawing can occur."
A second post said, "When the required security protocols are complete, the drawing will be performed under the supervision of lottery security officials and independent auditors. Winning numbers will be posted as soon as they are available."
Earlier Monday, dreams of Pacific Heights mansions, wine country estates, luxury automobiles and sport team ownerships danced in lottery players' heads as the Powerball jackpot grew to a record $1.9 billion.
If you are fortunate enough to beat the one-in-292 million or greater odds and be the only winner, you could choose to take a one-time $929.1 million payout before federal taxes. California does not take state tax out of lottery prizes.
Earlier Monday, dreams of Pacific Heights mansions, wine country estates, luxury automobiles and sport team ownerships danced in lottery players' heads as the Powerball jackpot grew to a record $1.9 billion.
If you are fortunate enough to beat the one-in-292 million or greater odds and be the only winner, you could choose to take a one-time $929.1 million payout before federal taxes. California does not take state tax out of lottery prizes.
So what could you do with that kind of generational wealth in the bank? Here's one scenario.
You could spend $45 million to buy a 9,865 square foot, 6-bedroom San Francisco mansion currently on the market and tool around the Bay Area in your $453,396 2023 Lamborghini Huracan.
You could also buy Calistoga's Bellisimo Vineyard which is currently on the market for $10.3 million and make your own wine.
If you get bored, you could fly yourself and 18 family members or friends aboard your Gulfstream G800 jet (price tag $71 million) to your own Royal Island in the Bahamas (on the market at $50 million) for a vacation.
And you'd still have hundreds of millions in the bank
