California Player Wins $1.22 Billion Mega Millions Jackpot
Saturday December 28th 2024A Mega Millions player from California has become the game’s fifth-biggest winner after matching all the numbers in the latest draw on Friday to land a jackpot of $1.22 billion.
The jackpot had not previously been won since a player from Texas – claiming through the Sol Living Trust – banked $800 million on September 10th.
It built up towards the billion-dollar mark over a period of almost four months, finally reaching 10 figures on Christmas Eve. However, it was stopped from going on to reach the record as someone managed to hit the perfect line on December 27th.
The winning numbers were 3, 7, 37, 49 and 55, with a Mega Ball of 6. The holiday season brought an abundance of holiday cheer as more than five million prizes were paid out across the U.S. on the night, but the biggest celebrations were in the state of California.
The jackpot winner can now look forward to receiving of the largest prizes ever seen in Mega Millions history. They have one year to come forward, so there may not be any more news about them in the near future. The New Jersey player who won $1.13 billion in March 2024 only claimed their prize last week after waiting for nine months.
It is the fourth jackpot win in a row to be worth more than half a billion. Following the New Jersey success in March, an anonymous ticket holder from Illinois pocketed $560 million in June, then there was the big Texan payout of $800 million in September.
More big jackpots could be on the way, too, with Mega Millions set to undergo a series of changes in April that are designed to create even more huge wins.
The current record for the biggest win belongs to Saltines Holdings, LLC - a legal group set up by the Floridian player who snapped up $1.602 billion.
It may be that a new record is set sometime in 2025, but for now the jackpot will reset to $20 million ahead of the next draw. Keep an eye out every Tuesday and Friday night to see the latest winning numbers.
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