A four-member Detroit underground lottery club won $ 1.05 billion Mega Millions jackpot and will receive $ 557 million after taxes, officials said Friday. winners they claimed their prize a few weeks after the January 22 draw and chose the immediate lump sum option. After taxes, the $ 776 million payment was reduced to about $ 557 million, the Michigan Lottery said.
The names of the four members of the Oakland County club have not been released. Wolverine FLL Club had the only jackpot ticket.
“This kind of money will have an impact on the families of our club members for generations to come. We aim to remain humble and pay them through charitable donations in southeast Michigan,” lawyer Kurt Panouses said on behalf of the winners.
/ AP
The $ 1.05 billion jackpot was the largest in the history of the Michigan Lottery and the third largest in the United States. Mega Millions is played in 45 states, as well as in Washington, DC and the US Virgin Islands.
The winning ticket was purchased almost as a later thought at a Kroger grocery store in the Detroit suburb of Novi.
“A member of the club saw a sign that the jackpot was up to $ 1 billion and remembered that they had not yet bought their tickets, so they entered Kroger,” Panouses said. “When you play, of course, you dream of winning, but its reality has been incredible.”
Kroger said he will donate his $ 50,000 commission to the Michigan Food Bank Board.
“Kroger is committed to our mission to feed our communities,” said Rachel Hurst, corporate business manager at Kroger Co. from Michigan.
There was much public speculation immediately after the draw that a group of Novi teachers had won. David Ascher, principal at Novi Woods Elementary School, has spread rumors.
“Everyone showed up for work today, which was great,” Escher said two days after the drawing. “I bought them all the donuts today, which seemed to help.”