Mega Millions jackpot: Who won $1.35 billion prize in Maine?

WASHINGTON — The sole winner of the $1.35 billion Mega Millions jackpot has come to claim their winnings, the Maine State Lottery announced Wednesday.

While winners had up to a year to claim their grand prize from the January 13 drawing, they waited less than six weeks to claim their prize.

The winning ticket was purchased at Hometown Gas & Grill in Lebanon, Maine, a town of less than 6,500 people in the southwestern corner of the state. The store received a $50,000 bonus for selling the winning ticket.

We may never know the person’s identity. That’s because they accepted winnings through LaKoma Island Investments, LLC, a limited liability company, according to a release from the Maine State Lottery.

The $1.35 billion jackpot is the second-largest Mega Millions jackpot and the fourth-largest lottery in U.S. history. There were 25 consecutive draws without a jackpot winner before the only ticket purchased in Maine matched all the numbers exactly.

The winner chose the cash option, a one-time payment of $723,564,144 before taxes, the Maine State Lottery said. Winners almost always have the cash option, but instead, they have the option of receiving the full amount in annual payments over 29 years.

“Winners are giving careful consideration to how best to use the life-changing prize,” a representative for the winner said in a statement.

Last week, November’s record-high $2.04 billion Powerball jackpot winner was revealed in California. State lottery officials announced that a man named Edwin Castro was the winner. Castro declined to appear but sent a statement saying he was shocked and delighted that the lottery helps fund education.

1.24 billion, Powerball, November 8, 2022 (one ticket, from California)

2. $1.586 billion, Powerball, January 13, 2016 (three tickets, from California, Florida, Tennessee)

3. $1.537 billion, Mega Millions, October 23, 2018 (one ticket, from South Carolina)

4. $1.35 billion, Mega Millions, January 13, 2023 (one ticket, from Maine)

5. $1.337 billion, Mega Millions, July 29, 2022 (one ticket, from Illinois)

6. $1.05 billion, Mega Millions, January 22, 2021 (one ticket, from Michigan)

$7.768.4 million, Powerball, March 27, 2019 (one ticket, from Wisconsin)

$8.758.7 million, Powerball, August 23, 2017 (one ticket, from Massachusetts)

9. $731.1 million, Powerball, January 20, 2021 (one ticket, from Maryland)

10. $699.8 million, Powerball, October 4, 2021 (one ticket, from California)

Griffin Stockford of the Maine News Center contributed to this report.