More than four months after making his or her fateful lottery ticket purchase, the winner of the $1.5 billion Mega Millions jackpot has stepped forward — but will remain anonymous, the South Carolina Education Lottery Commission announced.
The winner of the largest jackpot in U.S. history has opted for up-front cash — a one-time payment of $877,784,124, the commission announced shortly before 5 p.m. Monday.
According to a statement from the commission, the winner confided in how unlikely the win was — that he (or she) had let a fellow customer buy a Quick Pick Mega Millions lottery ticket ahead of him in line the day he made his own lottery ticket purchase at the KC Mart in Simpsonville.
"We are delighted that the winner is a South Carolinian and has come forward to claim this remarkable prize," said Hogan Brown, the lottery commission's executive director. "We respect the winner's decision to remain anonymous, and we will honor the winner's wishes."
KC Mart in Simpsonville will receive $50,000 for selling the claimed winning ticket.
The state of South Carolina, meanwhile, will collect $61 million in income taxes from the winner, according to the commission.
The winner has hired attorney Jason Kurland of Rivkin Radler of New York, who will provide legal representation while also acting as the winner's spokesman, according to the commission.
Kurland has represented multiple large lottery winners, according to his firm's website, including the Putnam Avenue Family Trust, winner of a $254.2 million Connecticut Powerball lottery; the Rainbow Sherbert Trust, winner of a $336.4 million Rhode Island Powerball jackpot; and The Ning Trust, winner of a $121.6 million Powerball jackpot in Delaware two years ago.
Kurland could not be reached for comment Monday evening.
Once the South Carolina winner has been paid, a news conference will take place at the S.C. lottery commission's headquarters in Columbia.
The ticket's initial purchase took place Oct. 24, 2018, and the winner had 180 days to step forward.
He — or she — waited 131, prompting intense speculation on social media about what the winner might be up to over the past four months. Was the ticket lost? Did the winner not know he had bought the winning ticket? Had a minor purchased it?
According to a recent report, had the winner deposited the $878 million lump sum into a 2-percent interest savings account on day one, they would have collected $5.8 million in interest alone by now.
Congratulations to the winner!!! Enjoy it!!!
Finally! That attorney Jason Kurland has a reputation for being savvy. Took that attorney for the Robinson’s to task for showing up on GMA & exposing the winners on national television. Called it irresponsible and
. On a side note: l was correct, 
the winner didn’t CARE about the interest they lost on the millions. Now, to parlay that forethought into choosing the winning PB numbers.
well part of the mystery is at long last over, may s/he/they be that happy and put the money to good use
Only thing I'd like to know is how old the individual is just for curiosity.
one can only wonder and no doubt some grandkids will be splurging soon enough on silly things they don't need
Congrats to the winner.I am happy they claimed.It would be crazy that money would go back to the States and the store owner not getting paid his $50k.
I hope the winner stays anonymous but when that money hits the bank ,watch out for chatty tellers.
Congrats to the lucky winner/winners.
$877.8 million American dollars! I agree that hiring Jason Kurland was the correct way. About, chatty tellers, Jason Kurland may help the winner with this problem too. Proceed past the teller to a bank manager. Maybe even to the bank President!
Power Ball is our next target LP Members
Congratulations!!! I like it that the attorney is not returning calls. There will be a press conference with the attorney AFTER the money is paid. That counsel is in control. I really wonder if the winner had children and had to buy another home out of the area and sell the old home. So the children would be settled in a new school once the jp was claimed. This would have kept a family off the nosy body radar.
Congratulations! I just hope the winner(s) can see the opportunity they have and see how many jobs that they can create, industries they can support and businesses they can create while still buying that $15mil mansion, vacations around the world (be careful where you go....) the $2500 dresses and jewelry/watches/cars you buy. I hope they don't spend it willy-nilly. Waste it on $500.000 sportscars you can never really drive. Or heavens forbid going to Los Vegas to gamble.
Whewwwwwww, that was getting a little close, time wise... Congrats to that individual and it was very savy of her/him to have Atty Kurland as a legal representative/spokesman.
Glad I was wrong thinking the ticket was lost. I hope they have wonderful life and bring much joy into others.
The only question unanswered is "why did they wait so long?".
If the banking issue needs a teller, you can probably handle it online. If you win a huge jackpot, you will have money in multiple banks and institutions so a teller will probably have no clue you are a jp winner.
I agree that anyone that hits should stay anonymous. What business is it for anyone on how that winner does what they want to do with it. As far as non profits, if I were the winner I would expose Washington DC for all the non profit frauds that they all are. I don't care if they try and discover me at all.
The store owners that do sell a winning ticket, I was told by this pharmacist where I get my medications if any done, he doesn't really get anything from it. Isn't there something in the contract with the states and business owners?
Remaining anonymous is one thing. Starting rumors is another one.
Also, someone came up to me before the superbowl and bet someone $500 which two teams would be in the superbowl. I never asked him for a dime.
Some of you need to ask a reliable lawyer and accountant because from what I read on here some members are careless and make a mistake.
I think that most people would figure out where they want to live and kind of have that in place. A friend lives abt an hour from Simpsonville and heard it was a guy in his early twenties.
If I am ever that lucky, business as usual for family until I collect.
Think it is wonderful that they were able to wait over 4 months. If he / she had quit minths ago as rumored, someone wasn’t pressed.
Good question, in short Stack et al, they want to by time to think, manipulate and message the info for unseen purposes.
~EK
If that person is in their early 20s, think of a plan for early retirement, or do what I do. Open up an amazon store, start thrifting and get some people to work for that person. I know plenty of ideas to do.
The SC winner got $605,000,000 after fed / state taxes.
How would you have used this amount of moolah?
People are spreading rumors. Someone else posted that they "heard" it was a group. If the winner was that savvy to hire an excellent attorney and get their affairs in order, I doubt any of the rumors are true. If I won anonymously, I would help spread those false rumors. Lol
I heard it was someone here on Lottery Post.
In all seriousness this is probably one of the smartest winners we have seen in a while. Gets a good lawyer to run interference, keeps their mouth shut, and (hopefully) has assembled a good money management team. The only thing I might do differently is claim it sooner. I just could not stand the stress of having the ticket burning a hole in my pocket for so long.
Lol. It was JJ. He is so used to winning jackpots, he could hardly bear to claim another jp win.
I really think the delay was due to children (quietly moving and changing schools) or career obligations.
Won by pulling a reversed Gloria!
"The SC winner got $605,000,000 after fed / state taxes."
Jackpot Cash Value $877.8 million . . so should clear around $491.5 million after 37% federal and 7% SC taxes.
The news item states - "The winner of the largest jackpot in U.S. history has opted for up-front cash — a one-time payment of $877,784,124, the commission announced shortly before 5 p.m. Monday."
The jackpot was the second largest jackpot in US history.
That's good! spread your own rumors and sit back and relax. lol
The winner did their homework. Jason Kurland is the guy to hire. Wow, that’s some fortune.
That sounds like something you'd see in gymnastics, pro wrestling or a porno film.
Congratulations to the winner(s). I hope the jackpot brings them much joy.
I am thrilled to hear the winnings was claimed and it wasn't a lost ticket issue.
Congrats to the winner having over $400 million in the bank would be sweet.-weshar75
Good old Jason Kurland shows up again! This was the lawyer behind the infamous Connecticut jackpot mystery incident. A little lottery history [for fun] if anyone wants to read it:
"Asset managers accused of fronting for real $254M Powerball winner"
So a single dollar ticket gets claimed and split by 3 wealth managers. They acted like they "won" it. Ha, The stupid Media fall for it on press day.
However, the press was not fooled for long. I sit back and laughed my ass off at the whole thing as people tried to understand what happened.
What happened was Connecticut lottery [like most states] allow a legal entity to claim. A Trust in this event. So a trust claims it. The rules are the lottery gets a copy of the trust document and knows who the "real" winners are. Otherwise known as "the trust beneficiary"
The trust beneficiary is told to media and media can make public records request later to get the same trust document. This is how they get you in a none anonymous state.
In this case thru the "trust beneficiary " was another trust. That's right folks. IT'S Alice in Wonderland up in here and we're going down the Rabbit Hole of being anonymous in a non "anonymous" state.
The thing is the lottery does not get the 2nd trust document. They only get to know who controls and is the public face of 2nd trust. The 3 wealth managers are who controlled the 2nd trust for their client [the real winner.] They were managing the wealth for him. Whoever the real beneficiary behind the 2nd trust Is off limits to the lottery as they only have a legal right to first trust document. The 3 wealth managers acting as a go-between the real winner and public. The fact they tried to trick the media at press event what made me crack up.
Lucky this 1.5b jackpot winner does not have to play legal tricks. The state respects his right to remain anonymous from the get-go. Thru am sure that smart lawyer has her/him/them protected and set up like no one's business.
Anonymous???
Now how will I be able to tell my long lost brother, sister, mother, father, third cousin, long forgotten childhood friend....
How much I love and miss them?
:)
Congrats to the winner(s).
Why, why? We may never know Stack, but at least we know the ticket was not left on the dash of a car, or ended up in the landfill.
On the question of why,why did Samson set 300 foxes with lighted torches into the standing grain of the Philistines?
Music- l think Jason is the attorney to go for in the event of one winning a multi million dollar jackpot.l wonder whether he is up to the challenge of shielding one from the inquisitive California lottery and their infernal rules of " transparency" and putting your name out there.Perhaps he has a bag of tricks, which comes at a price.l would love to test his mettle, pit him up against the dark forces of the CA lottery.
Interesting article on MSN
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/personalfinance/mega-millions-winner-of-dollar15b-jackpot-comes-forward-why-they-chose-the-lump-sum/ar-BBUnm9F?li=BBnb7Kz
For all the cash vs annuity discussions that are on LP, has this ever came up?
Annuity, cons;
Cons: But there are risks. It’s possible that the entity making the payout over the 30 years could run out of money
Coin toss it's called socialism. It does not help both parties [ pretty much all of Congress] spends money like drunken sailors.
But real reason not to take annuity is just pure money you would earn from it. If your goal to get as much money as possible and do it safe..... I could do it with my eyes closed for 30 years.
Take all that money into just 2 companies.
The most profitable beverage company in the world:Coca-Cola
And the most profitable food company in the world: Nestlé
We're talking market caps of 194 billion and 278 billion. Both pay their shareholders fat dividend checks from billions in sales every year.
People got to drink and eat. IN 30 years time these companies would have got a lottery winner even more mega-rich then 1.5b annuity. Just reinvest the millions coming in ever year. It does not matter if the stock market was to crash and burn over the next 30 years. You don't have to sell your stock in these 2 rocks sold companies and sure have millions coming in every year to do with as you wish no matter what happens in the markets.
This is just my funny way of saying Coco-cola and Nestle is a much smarter and safer to boot option then the united states govt. I hope you get my point here. People say take the "safe" bet. The stock market with the right companies is the safest option.
All those people saying that the ticket was lost....I mean were you serious. Who is going to misplace a 1.5 Billion dollar ticket. Post after post about it being lost and all for nothing. Congrats winners!!
I'm sure there are many people that know who they are, the reality is people just don't care anymore. There are so many big jackpot winners out there now it's old news. Also you're not getting any of the money anyway so it's not like you have anything invested in finding out who they are. My one buddy won the Mega Millions a few years ago, moved out of town because he thought he would be harassed, a few years later he did that show that feature lottery winners and then shortly after that he moved back here and bought a house that's right on the road, no gates, no nothing, you can walk 20 feet up to his front door and no one bothers him. Unless the winner(s) is a hermit and has no friends, no family nothing, someone knows they won and the odds that everyone will keep their mouth shut is virtually impossible, not to mention the store owners and clerks know who they are. If you won a $100 million today and called the news station and told them you wanted them to interview you, you probably wouldn't even get a callback. LOL
Let's say you had an uncle that worked at XYZ company in South Carolina making $60,000 a year and then they quit their job and a few months later they buy a $10 million house and millions in cars and boats, how many seconds would it take you to figure out they were the winner? Like my grandfather said, you can hide and buy land, but you can't hide and work it.
What a fun story! They waited - why? for their own reasons. They hired an attorney who has handled big lottery wins before, so the lawyer knows the ropes already. And now they have their money.
Best of luck to the winners. I hope they have a safe and uneventful life with their riches!
I am confused as to how all these people/entities claiming Powerball or Mega Millions jackpots over two months AFTER the drawing are still legally allowed to receive the cash option!??
Congratulations to the winner. Now on to Wednesday's powerball jackpot!!!!