California man wins half of $61M Mega Millions jackpot

Oct 18, 2012, 6:55 am (49 comments)

Mega Millions

FRESNO, Calif. — A California man is $30.5 million richer after splitting Tuesday night's $61 million Mega Millions jackpot with a co-winner from Massachusetts.

he winning ticket was sold at the 7-Eleven store on Shaw and Maple in the last week.

Just after 7 a.m. Wednesday morning there was a small celebration going on inside the 7-Eleven store across the street from Fresno State. The clerks were shaking the hands with a man and smiling. A 7-Eleven official confirmed that man was the winner of the $30.5 million MEGA Millions jackpot.

As quickly as he came in to get his usual Red Bull drink, he was out and on his way to work.

Action News spoke with him for a quick second and he was still in shock. He said his name was Alex and that he worked at Fresno State on the field. When asked when he was going to cash in the winning ticket, he laughed, and left.

Store clerks say Alex is a regular customer and a very nice man. Local lottery officials say this $30 million dollar win is exciting for everyone.

"Not too often we get a big winner. Because we're talking about 38 different states that are in the pool for the Mega Millions so it's yeah it's kind of a big deal for California to have a big winner," said California State Lottery Fresno supervisor Henry Hernandez.

Wednesday morning, California Lottery officials put up the store's first ever "millionaires made here" sign. With a matching ticket, that means the store also wins as well — and in fact, this is the store's first big win.

The franchisee will receive half a percent of the winner's earnings, which amounts to a little more than $152 thousand. As of late Wednesday morning, the winner had not stopped by the local California Lottery office to cash in his ticket.

The total Mega Millions jackpot was $61 million dollars. Two people in the country had those magic Mega Million numbers. Besides Fresno, the other winning ticket was sold in Massachusetts.

KFSN

Comments

mcginnin56

Hurrah again for California!

I knew you guys would pull it off again.  Banana

helpmewin's avatarhelpmewin

Congrats! Alex hope you spend your money wisely.Party

Cletu$2's avatarCletu$2

Congrats on your win,Alex.

sully16's avatarsully16

Nice job Alex, congrats and enjoy.

golfer1960's avatargolfer1960

Quote: Originally posted by sully16 on Oct 18, 2012

Nice job Alex, congrats and enjoy.

Sully, you have a great heart. Not a jealous bone in your body. I wish I was more like you. I'm learning from your example.

Ronnie316

Awesome win!

golfer1960's avatargolfer1960

Quote: Originally posted by mcginnin56 on Oct 18, 2012

Hurrah again for California!

I knew you guys would pull it off again.  Banana

Yeah man! California has hit 5 jackpots this year. And my brother in LA won't even play the lottery (sigh).

Ronnie316

Quote: Originally posted by golfer1960 on Oct 18, 2012

Yeah man! California has hit 5 jackpots this year. And my brother in LA won't even play the lottery (sigh).

Send him $20. and get 2 lines for 10 draws...... Perhaps you will win.....   What?

golfer1960's avatargolfer1960

Quote: Originally posted by Ronnie316 on Oct 18, 2012

Send him $20. and get 2 lines for 10 draws...... Perhaps you will win.....   What?

Great idea Ronnie, thanks!

phibeta1914

What was that lottery official talking about?  California always seems to win Mega, they have at least one second prize winner every drawing. Makes you wonder...

rcbbuckeye's avatarrcbbuckeye

Quote: Originally posted by phibeta1914 on Oct 18, 2012

What was that lottery official talking about?  California always seems to win Mega, they have at least one second prize winner every drawing. Makes you wonder...

With as many people in Ca, 2nd prize is no big deal.

Again.... more people in Ca, more in Ca buy tics, more winners as a result. We're not talking calculus here.

KY Floyd's avatarKY Floyd

"A 7-Eleven official confirmed that man was the winner of the $30.5 million MEGA Millions jackpot."

When did California privatize their lottery, and why did they pick 7 Eleven?

Cletu$2's avatarCletu$2

Quote: Originally posted by KY Floyd on Oct 19, 2012

"A 7-Eleven official confirmed that man was the winner of the $30.5 million MEGA Millions jackpot."

When did California privatize their lottery, and why did they pick 7 Eleven?

7-11 sold him the winning ticket.

RedStang's avatarRedStang

Thats a big chunk of change for the store.

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