Mega Millions jackpot reaches almost half a BILLION dollars after 16 weeks without a winner - and lucky ticket holder could become richer than Taylor Swift
The Mega Millions jackpot is nearly half a billion dollars after 16 weeks without a winner and a lucky ticket holder on Friday could give Taylor Swift a run for her money.
After no ticket matched all six numbers drawn Tuesday night – the white balls 20, 43, 51, 55 and 57, plus the gold Mega Ball 4 – the jackpot jumped to an estimated $490million.
According to lottery organizers, January is a relatively lucky month for jackpot wins, though the odds of winning are 1 in 302,575,350 in the 45 states where it's played, Washington and the US Virgin Islands.
'This is the 19th January since Mega Millions began in May 2002, and there have been 16 jackpots awarded during the month over the years,' a Mega Millions statement reads.
Some of those wins include three of the game's largest prizes – $451million on January 5, 2018, $437million on January 1, 2019, and $380million on January 14, 2011.
After no ticket matched all six numbers drawn Tuesday night – the white balls 20, 43, 51, 55 and 57, plus the gold Mega Ball 4 – the jackpot jumped to an estimated $490million. A customer purchases a Mega Millions ticket in Illinois on Wednesday
Though there wasn't a jackpot winner Tuesday night, there were other big winners, including four tickets that matched the five white balls to win the game's second prize of at least $1million. A ticket is printed at a convenience store in Illinois on Wednesday
Ticket buyers should also keep in mind that the $490million is an advertised amount or estimate of what the jackpot is worth if the winner lets the government invest the money for them over 30 years.
That basically means that lottery jackpots are really just the cash amount, which would put Friday's cash amount at $372.3million.
Even still, with $372.3million, the winner would have enough to compete with some big-named celebrities like Leonardo DiCaprio who has a net worth of about $260million, Taylor Swift who is worth an estimated $360million and Serena Williams whose net worth is about $225million.
Though there wasn't a jackpot winner Tuesday night, there were other big winners, including four tickets that matched the five white balls to win the game's second prize of at least $1million.
Top Mega Millions jackpots to date
Location: Amount: Date:
South Carolina $1.5billion October 23, 2018
Illinois, Kansas & Maryland $656million March 30, 2012
California & Georgia $648million December 17, 2013
California $543million July 24, 2018
Indiana $536million July 8, 2016
New Jersey $533million March 30, 2018
California $522million June 7, 2019
N/A $490million January 8, 2021
Florida $451million January 5, 2018
New York $437million January 1, 2019
They were sold in California, Minnesota, New Jersey and New York, the statement reads.
The New York ticket included the optional Megaplier, which is worth $2million after the 2X Megaplier was drawn.
Fifty-one tickets matched four white balls plus the Mega Ball to win $10,000; eight of those are actually worth $20,000 each because they also included the optional Megaplier, the statement added.
There were 1,927,049 winning tickets at all prize levels in the January 5 drawing.
Since the jackpot was last won in Wisconsin on September 15, there have been more than 19.2 million winning tickets sold at all prize levels, including 27 worth $1million or more.
In 2020, the Mega Millions jackpot was won five times with two states getting their first-ever jackpot win in the game.
Arizona took the largest prize of the year at $414million on June 9 and a lucky winner in Wisconsin won $120million on September 15.
Two 2020 jackpots were won in New Jersey: $202million on February 11 and $123million on July 24. On July 31, a California winner took home a $22million prize.