$14M Mega Millions lottery jackpot won by 2 old friends

Oct 5, 2012, 8:57 am (40 comments)

Mega Millions

They've been playing the lottery together for 25 years — and it finally paid off.

Two old friends who met working in a Manhattan print shop have become instant millionaires, scooping up a $14 million jackpot in the Mega Millions game.

And technically, they didn't spend a penny on their winning numbers.

"We won $14 million on a free play ticket," said Willie McPherson, 74, who lives on Manhattan's West Side. "(It feels) beautiful."

Christopher Manzi, 44, of Morganville, N.J., who works in sales, and McPherson became pals working at a midtown printing company two-and-a-half decades ago.

They have been spending a $20 each a week on Powerball and Mega Millions tickets ever since.

McPherson made his regular $40 Powerball and Mega Millions purchases at Kyu's Coffee Shop on West 32nd Street on Sept. 18.

Even after McPherson retired eight years ago, he would still stop by weekly to grab a coffee with his ex-colleague and head out to buy their tickets, yet the most they ever won was $12.

"We both like playing the lottery. We both like women, and we both like a lot of money," Manzi quipped about the reason for their strong bond.

"It's just a great feeling. We are two lucky guys."

McPherson was a little short of cash when he went to buy their $40 worth of tickets on Sept. 18 so Manzi gave him a loan.

He was given two extra free Mega Millions Quick Pick tickets that day as part of a special promotion.

The retiree came in the next day with the good news: "We hit the lottery. We are going to Miami," he told Manzi.

They opted for the lump sum, which is just over $10 million.

After taxes, Manzi gets $3.5 million and McPherson, who will pay the government more as a Manhattan resident, gets $3.3 million.

Besides a trip to Florida, the two plan to buy real estate.

"I'll buy him a house, and then he can buy one for me," Manzi said.  "Willie's retired. I'm possibly going to retire too."

Kyu's owner, Kyu Hwa, 55, who got $10,000 for selling the winning ticket, said McPherson has been buying tickets from her every week for seven years.

News story photo(Click to display full-size in gallery)

NY Post, Daily News, Lottery Post Staff

Comments

jamella724

What a lucky day for both of them. Winning $14 million and yet on a free play ticket...Wow. They are both so lucky.  Congratulations to both of you and may you enjoy more...

Original Bey's avatarOriginal Bey

And they say, the definition of INSANITY is to do the same thing over and over again expecting a different result.....

 

I agree! 14m is MAD CASH

 

Party

whiteballz's avatarwhiteballz

now that New York just won. You know what that means....

helpmewin's avatarhelpmewin

 Congrats!  Party

Cletu$2's avatarCletu$2

Quote: Originally posted by whiteballz on Oct 5, 2012

now that New York just won. You know what that means....

I hope it means that I will win next!

RJOh's avatarRJOh

Persistence pays off.

Ronnie316

Luck of the draw.

whitelion

Way to go public, so everyone can see you, good luck with all the solicitors

Ronnie316

They played for 20 years and the winning ticket "cost them nothing"  What?

hearsetrax's avatarhearsetrax

Quote: Originally posted by whitelion on Oct 5, 2012

Way to go public, so everyone can see you, good luck with all the solicitors

hence the reason why this was invented  hehehehehe

Ronnie316

Nice weapon.......  USA USA USA

haymaker's avatarhaymaker

WTH ?

Mcpherson has to pay $200,000 more in tax cause he lives in manhatten ?

Do they have a lottery tax at the municipal level ?

The other guy lives in jersey which has the highest state lottery tax @ 10.8%

I would have thought Mcpherson would have done better.

Ronnie316

Quote: Originally posted by haymaker on Oct 5, 2012

WTH ?

Mcpherson has to pay $200,000 more in tax cause he lives in manhatten ?

Do they have a lottery tax at the municipal level ?

The other guy lives in jersey which has the highest state lottery tax @ 10.8%

I would have thought Mcpherson would have done better.

Perhaps taxing your "after tax" revenue has become a sort of sport?? What?

RJOh's avatarRJOh

Quote: Originally posted by haymaker on Oct 5, 2012

WTH ?

Mcpherson has to pay $200,000 more in tax cause he lives in manhatten ?

Do they have a lottery tax at the municipal level ?

The other guy lives in jersey which has the highest state lottery tax @ 10.8%

I would have thought Mcpherson would have done better.

Most cities do now days,  I noticed when I filled out my city taxes, they had added lottery winnings to the list or incomes that are taxed.

Romoneyia's avatarRomoneyia

Great for them but ummmmm. Manzi would get a little less since he was short on his part of the money and needed a loan.Isn't it funny that he didn't even have enough money to purchase their weekly tickets and Mcpherson is getting less because of where he resides. Great story good win.Im just saying it wouldn't have been a half and half and he(Manzi) didnt even have the money to purchase the tickets in the first place.but I guess it's fair since the winning ticket was a freebie.hmm.Im guessing Manzi got quite a few loans from his friend Mcpherson.Poor Mcpherson was probably glad to have a friend so loaning Manzi money to gamble wasn't an issue for him..did I just say the same twice.lol thats just as crazy as Manzi getting half the money for tickets he didn't purchase technically.Green laugh

Original Bey's avatarOriginal Bey

Quote: Originally posted by Romoneyia on Oct 5, 2012

Great for them but ummmmm. Manzi would get a little less since he was short on his part of the money and needed a loan.Isn't it funny that he didn't even have enough money to purchase their weekly tickets and Mcpherson is getting less because of where he resides. Great story good win.Im just saying it wouldn't have been a half and half and he(Manzi) didnt even have the money to purchase the tickets in the first place.but I guess it's fair since the winning ticket was a freebie.hmm.Im guessing Manzi got quite a few loans from his friend Mcpherson.Poor Mcpherson was probably glad to have a friend so loaning Manzi money to gamble wasn't an issue for him..did I just say the same twice.lol thats just as crazy as Manzi getting half the money for tickets he didn't purchase technically.Green laugh

This is after 25 YEARS.

I need you to write my next prenup - lol

haymaker's avatarhaymaker

Quote: Originally posted by Romoneyia on Oct 5, 2012

Great for them but ummmmm. Manzi would get a little less since he was short on his part of the money and needed a loan.Isn't it funny that he didn't even have enough money to purchase their weekly tickets and Mcpherson is getting less because of where he resides. Great story good win.Im just saying it wouldn't have been a half and half and he(Manzi) didnt even have the money to purchase the tickets in the first place.but I guess it's fair since the winning ticket was a freebie.hmm.Im guessing Manzi got quite a few loans from his friend Mcpherson.Poor Mcpherson was probably glad to have a friend so loaning Manzi money to gamble wasn't an issue for him..did I just say the same twice.lol thats just as crazy as Manzi getting half the money for tickets he didn't purchase technically.Green laugh

maybe Manzi has put up the loan in the past.

haymaker's avatarhaymaker

Quote: Originally posted by RJOh on Oct 5, 2012

Most cities do now days,  I noticed when I filled out my city taxes, they had added lottery winnings to the list or incomes that are taxed.

Had no idea,

do give any ideas to these Jersey towns

RJOh's avatarRJOh

Quote: Originally posted by haymaker on Oct 5, 2012

Had no idea,

do give any ideas to these Jersey towns

I doubt if most players add it to their income unless they win enough to pay state and federal taxes on it.  My town request you include a copy of your Federal tax forms with you city forms for auditing when you pay your taxes.

maringoman's avatarmaringoman

"We both like playing the lottery. We both like women, and we both like a lot of money," Manzi quipped about the reason for their strong bond.

That is the sweetest sentence that single women can hope to hear from a man or men who just hit the jackpot. I hope these two men can contain themselves going at what they like. I'm happy for them.

Artist77's avatarArtist77

Quote: Originally posted by Romoneyia on Oct 5, 2012

Great for them but ummmmm. Manzi would get a little less since he was short on his part of the money and needed a loan.Isn't it funny that he didn't even have enough money to purchase their weekly tickets and Mcpherson is getting less because of where he resides. Great story good win.Im just saying it wouldn't have been a half and half and he(Manzi) didnt even have the money to purchase the tickets in the first place.but I guess it's fair since the winning ticket was a freebie.hmm.Im guessing Manzi got quite a few loans from his friend Mcpherson.Poor Mcpherson was probably glad to have a friend so loaning Manzi money to gamble wasn't an issue for him..did I just say the same twice.lol thats just as crazy as Manzi getting half the money for tickets he didn't purchase technically.Green laugh

Geee...they were friends for 25 years and no one tried to cheat the other but they clearly had an informal understanding to share..  Glad to see there are some decent people in the world. I would hate to be Romoneyias friend.

DAMEDYLAN

congrats to both hope they spend it wisely

Ronnie316

Quote: Originally posted by Artist77 on Oct 5, 2012

Geee...they were friends for 25 years and no one tried to cheat the other but they clearly had an informal understanding to share..  Glad to see there are some decent people in the world. I would hate to be Romoneyias friend.

The older people get the less important the money is most of the time.

(except for a true miser who gets more and more greedy with time)

mcginnin56

Quote: Originally posted by hearsetrax on Oct 5, 2012

hence the reason why this was invented  hehehehehe

Must be to keep their girlfriends/lady friends at bay.  Hippy

Wonder how many shots it would take to get this job done?  Roll Eyes

HaveABall's avatarHaveABall

A happy story, what big weekly gamblers!  Congratulations, Willy and Christopher, for finally entering the "black" for lottery winnings!  This is an exciting jackpot win to share and celebrate together.

Cheers

HaveABall's avatarHaveABall

Quote: Originally posted by DAMEDYLAN on Oct 5, 2012

congrats to both hope they spend it wisely

Welcome, DAMEDYLAN, to fresh memberships and ideas here! Lurking

KY Floyd's avatarKY Floyd

Quote: Originally posted by haymaker on Oct 5, 2012

WTH ?

Mcpherson has to pay $200,000 more in tax cause he lives in manhatten ?

Do they have a lottery tax at the municipal level ?

The other guy lives in jersey which has the highest state lottery tax @ 10.8%

I would have thought Mcpherson would have done better.

NYC has a 4% income tax that applies to most types of income. Added to the NY state tax his marginal rate will be almost 13%, plus the federal rate of 35%.

Since the ticket was bought in NYC the guy who lives in NJ will owe NY state income taxes. NJ will be able to collect the difference betwen the NY rate and the NJ rate. The guy is lucky that NYC doesn't collect income tax on NYC earnings from non-residents.

ZANBAB1

ITS  HARD  TO  BELIEVE  THAT  IN  NEW JERSEY THIS  PAAST  WEEK  THAT  THE  RED  BALL  IN  THE  PICK  3  AND  PICK  FOUR DID  NOT  SHOW,  DOES  NOT  SEEM  RIGHT.  SMELLS  FISHY  TO  ME

waltoy's avatarwaltoy

Congrats Christopher and Willie, Now this is what I  call Friendship!!

they both smiling no one have to go to court.

I know the world have a few good people left out there. God Bless Them Both.

rdgrnr's avatarrdgrnr

Good to see a couple guys winning together who ain't trying to cheat the other guy or sue the other guy.

That's the way most people used to be.

When a man's word was his bond.

And a good reputation meant something.

Ain't like that much anymore.

hearsetrax's avatarhearsetrax

Quote: Originally posted by rdgrnr on Oct 8, 2012

Good to see a couple guys winning together who ain't trying to cheat the other guy or sue the other guy.

That's the way most people used to be.

When a man's word was his bond.

And a good reputation meant something.

Ain't like that much anymore.

indeed they R a rare pairing of men ..... Cheers

RedStang's avatarRedStang

Only sad part about this story are the taxes paid. They will probably get 3 mill each.

hearsetrax's avatarhearsetrax

Quote: Originally posted by RedStang on Oct 8, 2012

Only sad part about this story are the taxes paid. They will probably get 3 mill each.

a fair bit better off then they were b4 they got that lucky

dallascowboyfan's avatardallascowboyfan

Congrats to both the winners.....

dallascowboyfan's avatardallascowboyfan

Quote: Originally posted by rdgrnr on Oct 8, 2012

Good to see a couple guys winning together who ain't trying to cheat the other guy or sue the other guy.

That's the way most people used to be.

When a man's word was his bond.

And a good reputation meant something.

Ain't like that much anymore.

I Agree!

mediabrat's avatarmediabrat

Quote: Originally posted by whitelion on Oct 5, 2012

Way to go public, so everyone can see you, good luck with all the solicitors

New York requires you to go public.  Would you have preferred they surrendered their winnings like what happened in your state?

Arrowhead's avatarArrowhead

Good story. Clearing $3 mil and change each isn't mega-rich, but it's just fine, especially for the 74-year-old. And the other guy will do okay too.

weshar75's avatarweshar75

Nice win! It took a lot of patience to wait that long to finally hit a nice prize but now they are set with some nice retirement money.  Big congrats to both of you!-weshar75

US Flag

golfer1960's avatargolfer1960

Quote: Originally posted by Arrowhead on Oct 9, 2012

Good story. Clearing $3 mil and change each isn't mega-rich, but it's just fine, especially for the 74-year-old. And the other guy will do okay too.

I agree Arrowhead, plus the 74-yr old man said "we're going to Miami"! I love that. That's where I'd go to. Maybe even Orlando (Disney)!

Miami Florida

sully16's avatarsully16

Congrats to the lucky winners, enjoy your good fortune.

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