US lottery player wins $1.1bn Mega Millions jackpot

A lottery player in New Jersey hit the literal jackpot on Tuesday, becoming the owner of a winning Mega Millions lottery ticket worth $1.1bn (£791m).

The new billionaire had to match the six winning numbers, which were seven, 11, 22, 29, 38 - plus the "Mega Ball" four.

Doing so defied astronomical odds. There is a one in over 302 million shot at winning the Mega Millions jackpot.

It was the fifth largest jackpot in the history of the game.

The billion-dollar prize is just an estimate, the lottery said on Wednesday, until all sales of Mega Millions tickets are finalised.

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The jackpot winner will have the choice of receiving annual payments splitting the full jackpot amount or electing for a one-time lump-sum payment of $537.5m.

In Tuesday's lottery drawing, thirteen ticket holders — in California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, New York and Ohio — matched the first five winning numbers and won at least $1m.

This is the first Mega Millions jackpot won in this year. The last jackpot was grabbed by two players in California - a $394m prize - in December.

The largest-ever US lottery jackpot was a $2bn Powerball prize won in November 2022 by another California ticket owner.

The $2 Mega Millions tickets are sold in 45 states, Washington DC and the US Virgin Islands.

Half of the proceeds from the sale of each Mega Millions ticket remains in the state where the ticket was sold to support "designated good causes" and retailer commissions, according to the lottery.