What are the top 10 Powerball and Mega Millions jackpots in Wisconsin history?

Claire Reid, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Updated ·6 min read

Over the years, a few lucky lottery players have won eight and nine-figure Powerball and Mega Millions jackpots in Wisconsin.

The winners range from a group of employees at a well-known Wisconsin cheese company to a man from a prominent small-town family, who was later convicted of serious crimes.

Here are the top 10 largest Powerball and Mega Millions jackpots in Wisconsin Lottery history:

Manuel Franco, 24, second from left, of West Allis is the winner of the $768.4 million Powerball jackpot. Franco was identified early Tuesday afternoon at the state lottery headquarters. He took the lump sum payout of $477 million. With him are Wisconsin Department of Revenue Secretary Peter Barca, Wisconsin Lottery Director Cindy Polzin and Moola, the lottery mascot.

A $768.4 million lottery ticket was sold at a Speedway in New Berlin

  • Powerball, March 27, 2019

According to the Wisconsin Lottery, this was the third-largest U.S. lottery jackpot ever at the time. Miguel Franco of West Allis, then 24, was identified as the winner and received a lump sum payout of $477 million.

When Franco revealed himself as the winner in April 2019, he spoke about wanting to help the world once he got his affairs in order, the Journal Sentinel reported. That May, he donated a $200 Target gift card to a stranger, Nicole Domitro, a mother shopping for Pull-Ups for her son at an Illinois Target. Franco previously worked at a Milwaukee Target before moving to Illinois after winning the lottery.

An Oneida couple won $316.3 million from a ticket purchased at a Citgo in Ashwaubenon

  • Powerball, Jan. 5, 2022

According to the Wisconsin Lottery, Tammy and Cliff Webster, a married couple from Oneida, split a $632.6 million jackpot with another winner who purchased their ticket in California. Powerball lists this as the ninth-largest jackpot in its history.

The Websters opted for a $225.1 million cash payout, which totaled $153.9 million in take-home pay after federal and state taxes. The couple are members of the Oneida Nation, and Cliff previously worked for the tribe's security department.

A group of Sargento Food employees won $208.6 million off a ticket bought in Fond du Lac

  • Powerball, Aug. 5, 2006

  • Ma and Pa’s Grocery Express, Fond du Lac

A group of coworkers at Sargento Foods Incorporated in Plymouth who called themselves the "100 Miracles" won the prize. The 100 coworkers were the largest group to share in a jackpot prize at the time and split the winnings equally.

NBC News reported that the coworkers, who usually pooled their money for the lottery when the jackpot was over $100 million, had been trying to win for three years. They'd even put a Buddha statue in a worker's locker, which workers would rub for good luck.

Most of the workers opted for a lump sum payout, which totaled between $660,000 and $670,000 after taxes.

A man and woman from Illinois won $195 million off a ticket purchased in Pell Lake

  • Powerball, May 20, 1998

  • Lakeside Country Store, Pell Lake

CBS News reported on the win when it occurred. According to the Wisconsin Lottery, the winners were Frank and Shirley C. of Streamwood, Ill.

A Milwaukee woman won $156.2 million from a ticket purchased in Pewaukee

  • Powerball, March 22, 2017

  • Pewaukee Corner Pump, Pewaukee

According to Journal Sentinel reporting, the winner of the jackpot was Milwaukee resident Mai Xiong. She took a one-time cash payout of $93.1 million after taxes.

A Racine man won $120 million in Wisconsin's first-ever Mega Millions jackpot

  • Mega Millions, Sept. 15, 2020

  • Kwik Trip #134, Mount Pleasant

According to the Wisconsin Lottery, the jackpot was the state's first Mega Millions jackpot since it debuted the game on Jan. 31, 2010. The winner, Adrian Tongson of Racine, took home a $95.4 million cash payout. According to Journal Sentinel reporting, Tongson is the only person to have ever won a Mega Millions jackpot in Wisconsin.

Following his win, Tongson told Mega Millions he was a regular Mega Millions player and hadn't realized he'd won the jackpot until checking his ticket weeks after the drawing. Tongson quit his job after the win.

A Fond du Lac teacher won $111 million from a ticket bought along the city's 'Miracle Mile'

  • Powerball, July 7, 1993

  • Sentry Foods, Fond Du Lac

According to the Wisconsin Lottery, the jackpot win ― the largest Powerball jackpot to date at the time ― began the reputation of Fond Du Lac's "Miracle Mile," a stretch of Fond Du Lac convenience stores and supermarkets that have sold winning lottery tickets. Fond du Lac junior high teacher Les Robins won the record-setting jackpot.

After leaving his teaching job, Robins opened Camp Winnegator, a children's summer day camp in Malone on Lake Winnebago, complete with horseback-riding stables, a gym, a pool and a mini golf course. He purchased the 226-acre camp with some of his lottery winnings.

"I basically consider myself a mentor to kids in any way I can be, whether it's in the classroom, their personal lives or on the basketball court," Robins told the Journal Sentinel in 2009.

He said winning the lottery changed his life "in both positive and negative ways." After winning, Robins had to go to court to legally divide the prize money with his ex-fiancé. Robins had been running an errand for her when he purchased his winning ticket. They had still been together at the time.

An unknown buyer purchased a winning $40.7 million Powerball ticket in 2007

  • Powerball, March 31, 2007

According to Powerball, the name of the winner, who purchased their ticket in Wisconsin, has remained withheld.

A Thiensville man won $36.8 million on a ticket he bought locally

  • Powerball, Jan. 8, 2005

  • Thiensville Mobil Mart, Thiensville

According to Powerball, Peter Bapes of Thiensville was named as the jackpot winner.

A Wisconsin man who won $31.4 million was later convicted of stalking and obsessing over a teenage girl

  • Powerball, Oct. 14, 2009

  • City Limits BP, Marinette

Douglas P. Miron, a Marinette County woodworker and son of the county's former District Attorney, won the jackpot. He received a lump sum payout of $16.7 million, which was reduced to $11.2 million after taxes. The Journal Sentinel reported that Miron purchased multiple new vehicles, a house with an airstrip and other real estate with his winnings.

He also "financed some friends' small businesses. He bought a bar and pizza place he named Giachino's and hired friends to work there, but it didn't last long without professional management," Journal Sentinel reporter Bruce Vielmetti wrote in 2015.

However, Miron was later charged with nine felonies, including stalking, and one misdemeanor related to his obsessive behavior toward a teenage girl he'd hired to clean the house he purchased with his lottery winnings. In January 2017, the Journal Sentinel reported that Miron would serve a year in jail, pay $55,000 in fines and serve four years of probation for his crimes.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin's top 10 largest Powerball and Mega Millions jackpots