Florida Mega Millions Player Wins Record $1.58B Jackpot

Posted on: August 9, 2023, 09:09h. 

Last updated on: August 24, 2023, 09:59h.

Devin O'Connor @CasinoorgDevinO Read More
Expertise: Asia Pacific Gaming, Commercial Gaming, Legislation, Politics.

The Mega Millions jackpot has finally been won.

Mega Millions jackpot lottery odds
A billboard from the California Lottery advertises the record $1.58 billion Mega Millions jackpot. The Aug. 8, 2023, drawing turned up a single jackpot winner, with the lucky ticket sold in Florida. (Image: Getty)

Following a run of 31 drawings without a single ticket matching the six winning numbers, officials with the Mega Millions Consortium say a ticket sold in Florida managed to hit the top prize during the game’s August 8 drawing.

Congratulations to the Florida Lottery for selling a jackpot-winning ticket in Tuesday’s $1.58 billion Mega Millions drawing,” said Georgia Lottery President and CEO Gretchen Corbin, who is additionally the director of the Mega Millions Consortium. “We congratulate our newest jackpot winner, as well as the more than 43.7 million winners at all prize levels throughout this jackpot run.”

Last night’s winning numbers were 13, 19, 20, 32, and 33, with the gold Mega Ball 14.

Historic Win

A release from Mega Millions said that while the consortium is still tallying the final numbers for Tuesday night’s drawing, the jackpot is likely to set a new record once the pool is officially determined. Mega Millions’ previous richest jackpot was a $1.537 billion prize won by a single ticket sold in South Carolina in October 2018.

The August 8 Mega Million jackpot ranks as the third-richest prize ever offered in U.S. history. Powerball holds the top two spots, a $2.04 billion prize won last November by a player in California, and a $1.586 billion jackpot won in January 2016 by three tickets sold in California, Florida, and Tennessee.

Mega Millions reps are calculating the final jackpot offering based on a 30-year annuitized payout. The annuity, should the winner choose the full value of the advertised jackpot, is based on a portfolio of bonds backed by the U.S. Treasury. With interest rates continuing to climb in what is the federal government’s attempt to ease inflation, the annuitized jackpots for Mega Millions and Powerball have been climbing in value faster than they did when the federal interest rate was near zero.

Tuesday night’s winning ticket was sold at a Publix grocery store at 630 Atlantic Boulevard in Neptune Beach, about 15 miles east of Jacksonville. The winner will need to choose between the annuitized $1.58 billion annuity paid out over 30 years or a one-time cash option of approximately $783.3 million.

Both prizes are before the federal government’s 37% tax levied on the nation’s top earners.

Florida is one of only eight states that doesn’t consider lottery winnings as individual income. Therefore, lottery wins in the Sunshine State aren’t subject to a state tax.

Not only did Tuesday night’s winner overcome the one in 302.5 million odds of winning the jackpot, but they were also fortunate to have purchased the life-changing ticket in Florida, where such wins are tax-free. If the ticket would have been purchased in neighboring Georgia, the state’s 5.75% state tax would have reduced the cash option by $45 million.

Other Winners

The August 8 Mega Millions drawing made more than seven million tickets winners, with most grabbing the game’s smallest prize of $2.

In addition to the jackpot, seven other tickets matched the five white balls, but not the gold Mega Ball, for the game’s second-tier prize of $1 million. Two of those tickets, sold in Florida and North Carolina, purchased the optional $1 add-on Megaplier that doubled their wins to $2 million after the Megaplier landed on 2x.

Another 166 tickets matched four of the white balls and the Mega Ball for the third-tier prize of $10K. Twenty-eight had the Megaplier to double their wins to $20K.