After 39 unsuccessful drawings, number 40 turned out to be the magic number for one lucky Mega Millions player. Friday night, that person hit all five numbers plus the gold Mega Ball number to win the eighth-largest prize in jackpot history, $983 million.
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Exact winning numbers
The lottery announced that somebody had won on Saturday, and that a single ticket had been sold to a player in Georgia. The winning numbers were 1, 8, 11, 12, 57 and a Mega Ball of 7.
“After growing since the end of June, the Mega Millions jackpot was won for just the fifth time this year on Friday night. A single ticket sold in Georgia matched all six numbers in the November 14 drawing,“ the lottery said in a statement to Fox Business.
Who won?
Nobody has come forward as of Monday morning to claim the massive prize publicly. The winner will have the option of taking a lump-sum payout of $453.6 million.
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The record for a Mega Millions jackpot win took place in Florida in August 2023, when one winner hit the numbers for $1.602 billion.
Smaller yet lucrative prize winners
In addition to the grand prize winner, there are 21 second-tier winners of prizes of $2 million or more, totaling at least $343 million. The lottery says winners are from various states, including Arizona, California, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Mississippi, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Texas and Virginia. There were also 347 third-tier prizes ranging from $20,000 to $100,000.
It is the first time anybody has won the Mega Millions drawing since June 27, when an individual in Virginia won $348 million.
New price and what’s next
The old saying used to be “a dollar and a dream.” However, that expression may have expired, since it now costs $5 to play Mega Millions. The lottery increased the price in April from $2 to boost jackpots, which now range from $20 million to $50 million. Tickets are now sold in 45 states, Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
In a release, Joshua Johnston, lead director for the Mega Millions Consortium, said, “$983 million is the largest jackpot that’s been won since the Mega Millions game changed back in April.”
Mega Millions lottery drawings take place every Tuesday and Friday night, with the next one scheduled for tomorrow, starting at a minimum of $50 million.
