What would you do if you won the lottery? I would take a cross-country trip and help out my family, and maybe only work part-time just to keep busy. When we dream of winning the lottery we usually think $10 million or even $50 million. But what if you won over $700 MILLION?
These people are the luckiest lottery winners in the world, with one jackpot being over $1 billion.
12. $319 Million in Albany
Seven co-workers in Albany, New York won $319 million on the Mega Millions lottery in 2015. 5 other co-workers passed on that round of the lottery pool, and I'm sure they still regret it.
11. $331 in Illinois, New Jersey, and Georgia
Erika Greene, a family in Illinois, and someone else in New Jersey all shared the $331 million jackpot. Green said she planned to buy a house and a car, although she's probably got more to spend after that.
"I've studied up on statistics and I am going to have someone handle the money for me," Greene said. "I'll make my money work for me instead of blowing it all."
10. $336 Million in California and New York
Jimmy Groves and Kevyn Ogawa split the winnings on the Mega Million jackpot, but Groves said it wasn't that great.
"It's a dream turned into a nightmare," he said. "Winning is the beginning. Living with it is pure hell."
9. $340 million in Illinois and Michigan
Joe and Sue Kainz split the $363 million jackpot with Larry and Nancy Ross. The Kainzes choise to pay their debts, put money into their brewery, and fix their leaky roof.
8. $365 million in Nebraska
A group of 8 workers, whose jobs it was to process corned beef, split the winnings. Three of them quit their jobs, three still reported to work, one used the money to get a business degree, and the other was just happy she wasn't married..."No. It's all mine."
7. $380 million in Washington
Holly Lahti went into hiding after winning her money, and no one really knew why. Then the truth came out: turns out, she had never legally divorced from the father of her child, or even separated, so he had legal claim on her lucky ticket. Oops.
6. $390 million in Georgia and New Jersey
A truck driver in Georgia split the winnings with a couple in New jersey.
"I checked the last number twice, called for my wife and told her we won," he said in a statement through their lawyer, Richard King. "She had a very hard time believing it."
Elaine and Harold Messner chose the cash option for the prize, getting $116,557,083 before the 25 percent federal withholding tax.
5. $587.5 million in Missouri and Arizona
Cindy and Mark Hill won part of the jackpot, with their 6 year old daughter asking for a pony. Another winner in Arizona chose to stay anonymous. They were lucky enough to hit the Powerball.
4. $590.5 million in Florida
Gloria Mackenzie won the $590 million Powerball jackpot all on her own. Until the most recent Powerball, it was the largest single-person prize awarded.
3. $656 in Illinois, Maryland, and Kansas
Three winners were declared in the 2012 lottery. Merle and Patricia Butler received $218.6 million of the jackpot. Three friends, who remained anonymous, won another part of it. The third winner in Kansas remains anonymous as well.
2. $758 million in Massachusetts
The 2017 Powerball winner was lucky to be the sole recipient of the jackpot. Mavis L. Wanczyk took home $336,350,655 after taxes. She quit her job immediately. Wanczyk based her winning numbers of birthdays of her family members.
1. $1.586 billion in Tennessee, Florida, and California
John and Lisa Robinson in Tennessee, Maureen Smith and David Kaltschmidt in Florida and Marvin and Mae Acosta in California all had the option of roughly $533 million before taxes as an annuity or $327.8 million as the lump-sum payment. The Robinson's took the lump sum, saying "we're not guaranteed tomorrow."
What would you do if you won the lottery?