Someone in South Carolina is a little bit richer after winning the $400 million jackpot in the Powerball lottery. The lucky winner, whose name hasn’t yet been released, was the only person to pick the following numbers in Wednesday’s night drawing:
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The winning ticket was sold at a Murphy USA gasoline station in Lexington, South Carolina. Store manager Keith Wedmore says this is the first big winner his store has sold. “I was at the store at the time,” Wedmore said in an interview. “I don’t know who it went to.”
According to the Powerball website, the Wednesday drawing had two other people with $2 million tickets and six people with $1 million tickets. One of the $1 million winners is also a South Carolina resident.
The lottery winner would probably love to remain anonymous, since money has a way of making new family members and old friends come out of the woodwork. However, South Carolina, like most other states, has “laws that require the lottery to release the name and city of residence to anyone who asks the lottery has to release the name and residence,” according to Powerball information.
The Powerball winner has 180 days to claim the ticket, and thanks to taxes, the winner won’t get to keep all $400 million. The grand prize winner still gets a nice chunk of change after Uncle Sam gets his part, as the winner can choose a lump sum payment of $233 million, or can receive annual payments of $13 million.
Since the winner hasn’t spoken up yet, people can only speculate what he will spend his money on. Many in the Lexington area probably hope that the winner will follow in the footsteps of another Powerball winner from South Carolina who won almost $260 million. Rev. Solomon Jackson, Jr. won the Powerball lottery in 2009 and has donated millions to education in SC. Jackson donated $10 million to Morris College in Sumter, $500,000 to buy two new buses for Benedict College in Columbia and $2 million to Booker T. Washington High School in Columbia.
The Powerball jackpot will reset at $40 million, and the next drawing will be held on Saturday night. Do you have any strategies for playing the lottery? Share below.