Missouri Powerball Winner Comes Forward, Texas Counterpart Hasn’t Yet
Meanwhile, Mega Millions jackpot nears $500 million, but no sales momentum
2 min
Two lottery players — one in Texas and one in Missouri — split the near-record Sept. 6 Powerball jackpot, and on Monday, the Missouri Lottery announced one of the winners had come forward to claim his prize, albeit anonymously.
The jackpot was valued at $1.787 billion in annuity form, the second highest prize in U.S. lottery history. That equated to $820.6 million if taken as a lump-sum payment and, with two winners sharing the money equally, that meant $410.3 million each. The Missouri winner did indeed choose the one-time payment of $410.3 million before taxes.
Though the winner’s identity was not disclosed (Missouri law permits winners to remain anonymous), the lottery revealed the lucky ticket-buyer to be a married man who bought the ticket at a QuikTrip in St. Louis.
Based upon statements given to the Missouri Lottery, the winner doesn’t seem to have big plans yet for what he and his wife will do with the money, other than relax more and work less.
“I’m going to just do me for a year,” he said. “I’m like a homebody. The perfect day is sitting at home doing what I do — relaxing.” But he also noted his wife, who will reduce her working hours, tends to be a little more active than him and is “going to drag me out of town now.”
Despite now having hundreds of millions of dollars to his name, the winner hasn’t altered his lifestyle yet and said that the night before claiming his prize, he was at home, doing his own laundry.
Since the Sept. 6 jackpot-winning drawing, there have been seven Powerball drawings without a grand prize winner, so the jackpot has gone from its starting point of $20 million to an estimated $127 million (cash value: $59 million) for Wednesday night.
Middling Mega?
Ever since the Powerball bubble burst, Mega Millions has offered the top prize in the land, and for Tuesday night’s drawing, the estimated jackpot sits at $451 million (cash option: $208.7 million).
The way things are trending, the jackpot should cross the $500 million mark if it rolls over two more times.
The estimated sales figures, however, do not reflect any sort of “jackpot fever” kicking in for Mega Millions.
Despite the growing value of the top prize, sales appear to have declined for the last four drawings in a row.
For the six drawings thus far in September, the estimated ticket sales are:
- Tuesday, Sept. 2: 9.2 million
- Friday, Sept. 5: 10.5 million
- Tuesday, Sept. 9: 8.9 million
- Friday, Sept. 12: 7.9 million
- Tuesday, Sept. 16: 7.9 million
- Friday, Sept. 19: 7.8 million
It would seem that Mega Millions sales were benefiting from the frenzy over Powerball at the beginning of the month — folks buying their Powerball tickets deciding to grab some Mega Millions tickets, too, as long as they were out and about — but the numbers have tapered off since Sept. 6.
Tickets for Mega Millions cost $5, while Powerball tickets cost $2. Most states offer the multiplier option for Powerball, which impacts any prize won except the jackpot, for an additional $1. Mega Millions comes with an automatic multiplier for any prize except the jackpot.
Both Powerball and Mega Millions are legal in all states except Alabama, Alaska, Hawaii, Nevada, and Utah. Tickets for both draw games are also sold in Washington, D.C. and the U.S. Virgin Islands. In Puerto Rico, customers can buy tickets for Powerball, but not for Mega Millions.
All-time biggest jackpots
Here is a list of the all-time top 10 U.S. lottery jackpots:
- $2.04 billion, Powerball, Nov. 7, 2022, won in California
- $1.79 billion, Powerball, Sept. 6, 2025, won in Missouri and Texas
- $1.76 billion, Powerball, Oct. 11, 2023, won in California
- $1.6 billion, Mega Millions, Aug. 8, 2023, won in Florida
- $1.59 billion, Powerball, Jan. 13, 2016, won in California, Florida, and Tennessee
- $1.54 billion, Mega Millions, Oct. 23, 2018, won in South Carolina
- $1.35 billion, Mega Millions, Jan. 13, 2023, won in Maine
- $1.34 billion, Mega Millions, July 29, 2022, won in Illinois
- $1.33 billion, Powerball, April 6, 2024, won in Oregon
- $1.22 billion, Mega Millions, Dec. 27, 2024, won in California
And here’s the all-time top 10 by lump-sum cash value:
- $997.6 million, Powerball, Nov. 7, 2022, won in California
- $983.5 million, Powerball, Jan. 13, 2016, won in California, Florida, and Tennessee
- $877.8 million, Mega Millions, Oct. 23, 2018, won in South Carolina
- $820.6 million, Powerball, Sept. 6, 2025, won in Missouri and Texas
- $794.2 million, Mega Millions, Aug. 8, 2023, won in Florida
- $780.5 million, Mega Millions, July 29, 2022, won in Illinois
- $776.6 million, Mega Millions, Jan. 22, 2021, won in Michigan
- $774.1 million, Powerball, Oct. 11, 2023, won in California
- $723.5 million, Mega Millions, Jan. 13, 2023, won in Maine
- $621 million, Powerball, April 6, 2024, won in Oregon
