Mega Millions Ticket Worth $1.13B Redeemed Nine Months After Drawing

Posted on: December 23, 2024, 02:15h. 

Last updated on: December 23, 2024, 02:15h.

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

The winning Mega Millions ticket worth almost $1.13 billion should the winner have chosen the 30-year annuity has finally been redeemed.

Mega Millions jackpot lottery
James Carey (right), executive director of the New Jersey Lottery, presents a $30K check to the owner of the ShopRite grocery and liquor store in Neptune Township for selling a winning Mega Millions jackpot ticket in March. The winner of the $1.13 billion annuitized prize redeemed the award this week. (Image: New Jersey Lottery)

On March 26, 2024, a single ticket matched the six drawn numbers for Mega Millions. The winning numbers were 7, 11, 22, 29, 38, and the gold Mega Ball was 4.

Nearly nine months later, the lucky player who overcame the long odds of just one in more than 302.5 million has come forward, although they aren’t disclosing their identity. On Monday, lottery officials with the New Jersey Lottery announced that the winning jackpot ticket sold at the ShopRite grocery and liquor store on Route 66 in Neptune Township had been redeemed.

The winner chose the one-time cash option of $537.5 million. While some states require major lottery winners to reveal their identity to maintain the public’s trust, New Jersey allows lottery winners to remain anonymous for wins over $600. Winners for prizes below that amount must provide their identity to lottery officials to claim their payout.

Payout Breakdown

In addition to providing winners with anonymity, New Jersey affords winners up to a year to redeem their prizes. For a major win like the March 2024 Mega Millions jackpot, the 12 months gives winners ample time to consult with their financial advisors and/or attorneys for advice in deciding whether to take the full value of the jackpot paid out over 30 years or the one-time cash option.

In this case — as most major jackpot winners do — the winner went for the cash. The $537.5 million is before a federal tax of 37% and an effective state tax of 10.75%.

The federal tax reduces the net payout by $198.8 million. The state further reduces the payout by $57.8 million for a total tax liability of approximately $256.6 million, or nearly half of the original prize. The net take-home cash award is roughly $280.9 million.

Lottery officials had few other details to provide, including where the winner is from, their gender, age, and backstory on playing Mega Millions. ShopRite said it donated its $30K bonus prize for selling the winning ticket to local food banks.

Indefinitely Anonymous

In 2020, New Jersey lawmakers amended the state’s lottery law to allow for anonymous redemptions. The legislation passed the New Jersey Legislature with unanimous support.

Lottery reps said the $1.13 billion jackpot winner “values privacy” and therefore opted to remain unidentified.

A 2020 New Jersey law allows lottery winners to remain anonymous indefinitely, and the identity of winners will not be included in materials available to public inspection under the State’s Open Public Records Act,” a release from the New Jersey Lottery explained. “Players claiming Lottery prizes worth at least $600 must still provide their identity to lottery officials to claim a prize.”

At $537.5 million before taxes, the March 2024 Mega Millions win was the ninth-largest cash lottery prize in U.S. history and the sixth-richest in Mega Millions history. Mega Millions will soon change another life, as the advertised annuitized jackpot for tomorrow night’s drawing is $944 million ($429.4 million cash).