The 10 biggest lottery jackpots in the world that will leave you speechless

The furor caused by the Powerball jackpot, which has just grown again to an incredible US$1.55 billion, brings to mind many of the stories of the incredible jackpots that have broken records and distributed the most millionaire sums among their winners. Although playing the lottery carries very low odds of winning, we all love to hear the stories of those who managed to beat all the statistics and win some of the world's biggest prizes, changing the zeros in their bank accounts overnight.

Whether or not there will be a winner of the $1.55 billion mega-jackpot today, or if it will accumulate again and reach even higher figures, we don't know yet. For the moment, it is certain that this prize will be among the biggest jackpots in the history of the world lottery, having already guaranteed the 4th place on the podium. But, in the meantime, let's take a look at the world lottery's biggest jackpots so far:

10 Biggest Lottery Prizes in History

US$2,04 billion Powerball

This prize, won in November 2022, was emotionally charged from the start. Initially, the jackpot announced had been $1.9 billion and, after a delay in the final ticket count, it was first reported that there had been no winner, something that was quickly rectified by lottery authorities after corroborating that there had indeed been a single winning ticket, which eventually took home a prize of US$2.04 billion. The prize was won in California, and some time later the identity of the winner was known: Edwin Castro, a Hispanic-American who had become one of the richest men in the world overnight. And "one of the richest men in the world" is not mere speculation: in fact, some time later the news was released that, thanks to his newly acquired wealth, Edwin Castro had become part of the famous Forbes list of the richest men in the world.

US$1,586 billion Powerball

For many years, this Powerball prize remained the largest prize distributed by a lottery in the world, until 6 years later it was surpassed by the US$2.04 billion jackpot. Won in January 2016, this Powerball prize was split between three winning tickets, sold in California, Florida and Tennessee. Each of the winners opted for the one-time payout, taking home an incredible sum of more than $500 million before taxes.

US$1,58 billion Mega Millions

This prize, drawn in August 2023, once again broke a new record by becoming the largest jackpot in the history of the Mega Millions lottery. Unfortunately, there is not much information about the lucky winner, since for the moment he remains anonymous. It is only known that it was a single ticket sold in Florida, USA.

US$1,537 billion Mega Millions

In October 2018, a single buyer in South Carolina, who was able to remain anonymous to this day thanks to his state's laws, took home the second-largest prize in lottery history: an impressive $1.537 billion jackpot. The lucky winner opted to remain anonymous and chose the one-time payout option, resulting in a final prize of nearly $877.8 million after taxes, considered the largest payout to a single winner in global lottery history until 2022, when it was also dethroned by the Powerball mega-jackpot.

US$1,348 billion Mega Millions

This huge Mega Millions jackpot came to overturn the superstition that Friday the 13th is an unlucky day because, precisely on Friday, January 13, 2023, luck smiled in the best possible way to a single player from the state of Maine, winning one of the biggest prizes in the history of the world lottery. Although the player preferred to remain anonymous, it is known that he chose to collect his prize in one lump sum through a limited partnership, which allowed him to collect the prize without revealing his identity.

US$1,337 billion Mega Millions

After months of accumulated jackpots, finally on July 29, 2022, a single ticket sold in the state of Illinois matched the winning combination that allowed him to win the Mega Millions mega-jackpot. Like so many other big jackpot winners, the player preferred to remain anonymous in order to preserve his privacy, so his identity and what he invested his winnings in is not known.

US$1,08 billion Powerball

This is, for the moment, considered as the 3rd largest prize in Powerball history, being the third time that the jackpot surpassed the US$1 billion barrier. It was won on July 19, 2023 by a single player from California. Although days after the drawing cameras captured a mysterious woman crying and claiming she had won the grand prize before running out of the store where the ticket had been sold, the true identity of the winner is still unknown, since the prize has not been claimed yet and the owners of the store said they did not recognize the mysterious woman, so they doubt she was the real owner of the winning ticket.

US$1,05 billion Mega Millions

It took 37 accumulations for a single ticket to win this huge Mega Millions prize in January 2021. The winning ticket was sold in Michigan and, as usual, the winners opted for the one-time payout, taking home an after-tax sum of $776.6 million. Of its winners, it is known that it was purchased by a 4-member lottery syndicate called the "Wolverine FF Club".

US$768 million Powerball

This Powerball lottery prize was won in March 2019 by a single lucky player in Wisconsin. The winner, a 24-year-old man named Manuel Franco, chose the lump sum option and took home $477 million after taxes.

US$758 million Powerball

This Powerball prize was won in August 2017 by Mavis Wanczyk, a 53-year-old woman who worked at a Massachusetts hospital. She chose the lump sum option and took home $480 million before taxes.

Thoughts on these giant prizes and the luck of the winners

Despite the overwhelming odds, these success stories teach us that there is always a chance, no matter how small. These giant lottery prizes are a reminder that, in this game of chance, really anything can happen. And while we can't all be as lucky as the winners of these prizes, we can always dream about what we would do if we ever won.