7 people won the Powerball jackpot in 2018—here's who won the most
Over 90 people won the Powerball lottery this year.
Of those winners, seven claimed jackpot prizes collectively worth over $2 billion. These lucky winners come from communities across the country and all have different plans for how to use the money.
Here's who won the Powerball jackpot this year:
Anonymous good Samaritan
Date: January 6th, 2018
Ticket sold at: Reed's Ferry Market in Merrimack, New Hampshire
Amount won: $559 million
Amount received: One-time cash payment of $264 million after taxes
New Hampshire is home to the first lottery in the country and this year, one anonymous winner won a mind boggling $559 million prize — the largest Powerball jackpot in state history. The winner chose to anonymously accept her prize as a one-time cash payment of $264 million after taxes through the Good Karma Family 2018 Nominee Trust facilitated by the law firm of Shaheen & Gordon .
The winner donated a combined $250,000 to Girls Inc. of New Hampshire and three state chapters of End 68 Hours of Hunger .
"We recognize the tremendous interest this prize has generated but hope you appreciate our client's desire to maintain a sense of normalcy by keeping her name confidential," said William Shaheen, trustee of the Good Karma trust at a press event in Concord, New Hampshire , in March. "What little I can say, is that she and her family have had a longstanding commitment to their community and are thrilled to be able to enhance their impact through targeted philanthropy for generations to come."
The generous winner later sued the New Hampshire state lottery commission in order to protect her identity.
Pennsylvania's biggest winner ever
Date: April 27, 2018
Ticket sold at: Speedway in Manheim, Pennsylvania
Amount won: $456 million
Amount received: One-time cash payment of $199 million after taxes
In April, a lawyer representing Emerald Legacy Trust claimed a roughly $456 million Powerball jackpot and opted to receive a one-time cash payment of over $199 million after taxes. Representatives for the trust did not reveal if the winner was an individual or a group of people and said that his client intended to remain anonymous.
The winning ticket matched all five white balls, 22-57-59-60-66, we well as the red Powerball 07. According to lottery representatives , the Pennsylvania win is the state's 18th Powerball jackpot win and the state's largest prize ever awarded.
Tayeb Souami
Date: May 19, 2018
Ticket sold at: ShopRite in Hackensack, New Jersey
Amount won: $315 million
Amount received: One-time cash payment of $183 million after taxes
In May, New Jersey dad Tayeb Souami from Little Ferry, New Jersey, won a $315 million Powerball jackpot. Souami says that he played the lottery for 21 years and his son always urged him to stop playing because his odds were too low.
Luckily for Souami, he did not take his son's advice.
Souami was at ShopRite to return a $5 bottle of orange juice that his wife had found on sale for just $2.50 elsewhere when he decided to buy two Powerball tickets with the money he had saved. The dad did not check his results until the next day. When he found out that he won, Souami was shaking so much that it took him four tries to fill out the claim form.
The New Jersey lottery also awarded Lawrence Inserra, Jr., owner of the Shoprite where Souami bought the winning ticket, a $30,000 bonus check. Inserra tells lottery officials that he plans to donate the proceeds to local charities.
Lerynne West
Date: October 27, 2018
Ticket sold at: Casey's in Redfield, Iowa
Amount won: $343.9 million
Amount received: One-time cash payment of $140 million after taxes
Far from New York, Lerynne West from Dexter, Iowa , split a record-breaking $687.8 million jackpot with Robert Bailey. The 51-year-old grandmother of six also chose to receive a lump sum payment of about $140 million after taxes.
However, West almost lost her ticket in her sister's car. When she put her numbers into the Powerball website and saw that she had won, she told her sister "Get that ticket, get in your truck and get up here now — and drive slow.'"
West had worked for a health insurance company, but she retired after learning she'd won the lottery. She plans to buy herself a car to replace her Ford Fiesta, which has 142,000 miles on it, give to friends and family and set money aside for her grandchildren to go to college. She has also established a nonprofit organization.
"I want you to know that as I stand here today I know the responsibility that I have to do good with this money," she said, fighting back tears at a press conference in November. "My life is changed forever."
Robert Bailey
Date: October 27, 2018
Ticket sold at: West Harlem Deli in Harlem, New York
Amount won: $343 million
Amount received: One-time cash payment of $125 million after taxes
For over 25 years, 67-year-old retired federal government employee Robert Bailey played the Powerball lottery with the same set of numbers: 8, 12, 13, 19 and 27. In October, his consistency paid off when he bought a winning ticket from the West Harlem Deli in Harlem, New York worth $343.8 million after both he and a winner from Iowa split a $687.8 million jackpot.
"A family member gave me the numbers over 25 years ago and I faithfully play them," he explained at a press conference in November. "I buy my tickets at three of four different stores. It was raining that day so I went into the deli to get out the rain and bought my ticket there."
Bailey chose to earn his winnings in the form of a one-time lump sum worth roughly $125 million after taxes. He says the money will change his life, but that he wont stop playing the lottery any time soon.
"It's a good life changer. I plan to do the right thing with the money," he said. "I will continue playing my numbers until this train runs out!"
Nandlall Mangal
Date: August 11, 2018
Ticket sold at: Staten Island, New York
Amount won: $245 million
Amount received: One-time cash payment of $99 million after taxes
In August, Nandlall Mangal from Staten Island, purchased a $6 Quick Pick ticket from a Stop & Shop in Staten Island, New York and then forgot about it for a week.
"The ticket sat on my kitchen table for a week because I was out of town," Mangal said at a press conference in September. "I checked the website when I got back and was surprised that I won the jackpot!"
His ticket made him the sole winner of a $245.6 million Powerball jackpot. He chose to receive his winnings as a one-time lump sum worth roughly $99 million after taxes and has a laid-back approach to how he plans to use his winnings.
"Right now I just plan to relax and see where it goes from there," he said. "I've always wanted to go to Hawaii."
Steven Nickell
Date: June 20, 2018
Ticket sold at: Circle K in Salem, Oregon
Amount won: $150 million
Amount received: One-time cash payment of $61 million after taxes
Steven Nickell from Salem, Oregon, is a regular Lottery player. He usually purchases some tickets and scans them when he goes to lunch, but accidentally kept a $150 million lottery ticket in his wallet for two weeks before checking the results.
When he finally scanned his ticket, the clerk told him he had won over $600 and that tickets worth over that amount must be officially claimed at the Lottery office.
"When the clerk told me that wins over $600 have to go to the Lottery office, I thought I could buy my wife something nice for the 4th of July," Nickell said at a press conference in July . "I had no idea that ticket was worth $150 million!"
He went home and checked his numbers online an hour before his wife got home.
"I looked at ticket and couldn't stop shaking!" he said. "At first I felt guilty I won. Then I realized that I'm the guy that gets to stand up and say 'BINGO!' We all play the game, it just so happens I'm the guy who got to win this time."
Nickell has hired a financial planner to safeguard his money and says he is happy that his family will be taken care of in the future.
A retired Louisiana couple
Date: March 24, 2018
Ticket sold at: Tiger Touchdown in Lafayette Louisiana
Amount won: $55 million
Amount received: One-time cash payment of $23 million after taxes
A retired Louisiana couple and their two adult children claimed a nearly $56 million Powerball jackpot price in March. Attorney Russell J. Stutes, Jr. accepted the winnings on behalf of The Moose Family Trust.
The winners, who remain anonymous, bought their lucky ticket at a store the family regularly shopped at, Tiger Touchdown. According to Stutes, the winners chose a lump sum payment worth over $23 million after taxes.
"You couldn't meet more deserving people," Stutes said at a press conference. "This new fortune will allow them to take care of their children and grandchildren; I have no doubt they will make excellent use of the opportunity it presents."
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