Updated annuity and cash jackpot final tallies
By Todd Northrop
After a record run of 36 drawings without a jackpot winner, the 37th drawing of the multi-state Mega Millions game produced a single $1.05 billion winner last night when one lottery ticket sold in Michigan matched all five numbers plus the Mega Ball.
It was the third time a lottery jackpot had grown to more than $1 billion, and the second time a single ticket won $1 billion or more.
The public has been electrified the couple of weeks by the meteoric rise of the Mega Millions and Powerball lottery jackpots, which both simultaneously set records for the longest unbroken streaks. At the finish line, Mega Millions went for one extra drawing and finished by creating a lottery billionaire.
The winner of the unimaginable haul will choose between being paid $1.05 billion in 30 annually-increasing payments over 29 years or the lump-sum cash value of $776.6 million.
According to USA Mega's Mega Millions Jackpot Analysis, after all taxes are paid, the winner either will receive $617.9 million by the end of 29 years, or $450.5 million in cash all at once. (We know which option we'd take!)
The winning ticket was sold at Kroger #632 at 47650 Grand River Ave in Novi, Michigan. It is the 18th Mega Millions jackpot won in Michigan over the years; the last one was a prize shared with Rhode Island on October 13, 2017.
Michigan was one of the original founding members of Mega Millions, which was called The Big Game at the time.
The Mega Millions winning numbers for Friday, January 22, 2021, were: 4, 26, 42, 50, and 60, with Mega Ball number 24. The Megaplier was 2.
It's hard to imagine the winner getting much sleep Friday night, as they try to process winning such an unimaginably huge lottery jackpot awarded to a single ticket — the one they're holding in their hand.
Millions of lottery players in the USA and around the world are wondering what they are planning to do with all that loot.
What is the first thing you would do?
Unlike the South Carolina winner of a $1.5 billion Mega Millions jackpot in 2018 who could remain anonymous, Michigan law only allows winners of in-state games to keep their name from the public. We'll have to keep an eye on what happens there, as past court battles over anonymity did not always turn out the way the law was written.
Fortunately, even if you didn't win the jackpot, the Mega Millions game still offers another 8 ways to win lower-tier prizes.
In addition to the jackpot winner, 10 lucky players matched the first 5 numbers for a $1,000,000 prize: 2 from Florida, 1 from Maryland, 1 from Missouri, 1 from North Carolina, 1 from New Jersey, 2 from New York, 1 from Pennsylvania, and 1 from Virginia.
Two of the second-prize winners — the tickets sold in North Carolina and Virginia — were purchased with the Megaplier option for an extra $1. Because they purchased the Megaplier, those tickets are now worth $2 million after being multiplied by the Megaplier number of 2.
187 tickets matched four white numbers plus the Mega Ball and won $10,000. Of those tickets, 31 were purchased with the Megaplier option, increasing the prize to $20,000, and 26 were sold in California, where the prize was $11,036 this drawing.
Unlike all the other Mega Millions states, California awards all prizes on a pari-mutuel basis, meaning the prizes will change each drawing based on the number of tickets sold and the number of tickets that won at each prize level.
In total, nearly 7.4 million tickets won prizes across the game's nine prize tiers in Friday's drawing. Apart from the jackpot, there were more than $46.2 million in prizes awarded last night.
A complete list of payouts for all prizes and the official drawing video can be found at USA Mega's Mega Millions Drawing Information page, as well as at Lottery Post's Mega Millions Prize Payouts page.
The still record-holder for the world's largest lottery jackpot was a $1.5864 billion Powerball jackpot in Jan. 2016, split three-ways by ticket-holders in California, Florida, and Tennessee.
The odds of winning the Mega Millions jackpot are 1 in 302.6 million.
Had no one matched all of the numbers drawn lottery officials said the next jackpot would have reached $1.1 billion.
With the jackpot being won Friday, the next Mega Millions annuity jackpot estimate is reset to its starting point of $20 million.
Mega Millions is currently offered for sale in 45 states, plus Washington, D.C. and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Drawings are Tuesdays and Fridays at 11:00 pm Eastern Time. Tickets cost $2 each.
The Mega Millions winning numbers are published at USA Mega (www.usamega.com) minutes after the drawing takes place.
Top 25 United States lottery jackpots of all time
Friday's $1 billion Mega Millions jackpot stands as the third-largest lottery jackpot of all time in the United States — and the world.
- Powerball: $1.5864 billion, Jan. 13, 2016 (19 rollovers, starting at $40 million) - California, Florida, Tennessee
- Mega Millions: $1.537 billion, Oct. 23, 2018 (25 rollovers, starting at $40 million) - South Carolina
- Mega Millions: $1.05 billion, Jan. 22, 2021 (36 rollovers, starting at $20 million) - Michigan
- Powerball: $768.4 million, Mar. 27, 2019 (25 rollovers, starting at $40 million) - Wisconsin
- Powerball: $758.7 million, Aug. 23, 2017 (20 rollovers, starting at $40 million) - Massachusetts
- Powerball: $731.1 million, Jan. 20, 2021 (35 rollovers, starting at $20 million) - Maryland
- Powerball: $687.8 million, Oct. 27, 2018 (21 rollovers, starting at $40 million) - Iowa, New York
- Mega Millions: $656 million, Mar. 30, 2012 (18 rollovers, starting at $12 million) - Illinois, Kansas, Maryland
- Mega Millions: $636 million, Dec. 17, 2013 (21 rollovers, starting at $12 million) - California, Georgia
- Powerball: $590.5 million, May 18, 2013 (13 rollovers, starting at $40 million) - Florida
- Powerball: $587.5 million, Nov. 28, 2012 (15 rollovers, starting at $40 million) - Arizona, Missouri
- Powerball: $564.1 million, Feb. 11, 2015 (20 rollovers, starting at $40 million) - North Carolina, Puerto Rico, Texas
- Powerball: $559.7 million, Jan. 6, 2018 (20 rollovers, starting at $40 million) - New Hampshire
- Mega Millions: $543 million, Jul. 24, 2018 (22 rollovers, starting at $40 million) - California
- Mega Millions: $536 million, Jul. 8, 2016 (34 rollovers, starting at $15 million) - Indiana
- Mega Millions: $533 million, Mar. 30, 2018 (23 rollovers, starting at $40 million) - New Jersey
- Mega Millions: $522 million, Jun. 7, 2019 (24 rollovers, starting at $40 million) - California
- Powerball: $487 million, Jul. 30, 2016 (23 rollovers, starting at $40 million) - New Hampshire
- Powerball: $456.7 million, Mar. 17, 2018 (19 rollovers, starting at $15 million) - Pennsylvania
- Mega Millions: $451 million, Jan. 5, 2018 (23 rollovers, starting at $15 million) - Florida
- Powerball: $448.4 million, Aug. 7, 2013 (12 rollovers, starting at $40 million) - Minnesota, New Jersey (2)
- Powerball: $447.8 million, Jun. 10, 2017 (19 rollovers, starting at $40 million) - California
- Powerball: $435.3 million, Feb. 22, 2017 (18 rollovers, starting at $40 million) - Indiana
- Powerball: $429.6 million, May 7, 2016 (18 rollovers, starting at $40 million) - New Jersey
- Powerball: $425.3 million, Feb. 19, 2014 (15 rollovers, starting at $40 million) - California
For those keeping score, the number of jackpots in the top 25, by lottery game, are:
- Powerball: 16
- Mega Millions: 9
Top 25 cash value jackpots
The Friday Mega Millions jackpot ranks as the 3rd-largest cash value in world history.
- Powerball: $983.5 million cash, Jan. 13, 2016 ($1.5864 billion annuity) - California, Florida, Tennessee
- Mega Millions: $877.8 million cash, Oct. 23, 2018 ($1.537 billion annuity) - South Carolina
- Mega Millions: $776.6 million cash, Jan. 22, 2021 ($1.05 billion annuity) - Michigan
- Powerball: $546.8 million cash, Jan. 20, 2021 ($731.1 million annuity) - Maryland
- Powerball: $480.5 million cash, Aug. 23, 2017 ($758.7 million annuity) - Massachusetts
- Powerball: $476.9 million cash, Mar. 27, 2019 ($768.4 million annuity) - Wisconsin
- Mega Millions: $471 million cash, Mar. 30, 2012 ($656 million annuity) - Illinois, Kansas, Maryland
- Powerball: $396.2 million cash, Oct. 27, 2018 ($687.8 million annuity) - Iowa, New York
- Powerball: $384.7 million cash, Nov. 28, 2012 ($587.5 million annuity) - Arizona, Missouri
- Powerball: $381.1 million cash, Feb. 11, 2015 ($564.1 million annuity) - North Carolina, Puerto Rico, Texas
- Mega Millions: $378 million cash, Jul. 8, 2016 ($536 million annuity) - Indiana
- Powerball: $370.9 million cash, May 18, 2013 ($590.5 million annuity) - Florida
- Powerball: $352 million cash, Jan. 6, 2018 ($559.7 million annuity) - New Hampshire
- Mega Millions: $347.6 million cash, Dec. 17, 2013 ($636 million annuity) - California, Georgia
- Mega Millions: $340 million cash, Jun. 7, 2019 ($522 million annuity) - California
- Powerball: $336.8 million cash, Jul. 30, 2016 ($487 million annuity) - New Hampshire
- Mega Millions: $324 million cash, Mar. 30, 2018 ($533 million annuity) - New Jersey
- Mega Millions: $320.5 million cash, Jul. 24, 2018 ($543 million annuity) - California
- Mega Millions: $319.9 million cash, Jun. 9, 2020 ($414 million annuity) - Arizona
- Powerball: $284 million cash, May 7, 2016 ($429.6 million annuity) - New Jersey
- Mega Millions: $281.9 million cash, Jan. 5, 2018 ($451 million annuity) - Florida
- Powerball: $279.1 million cash, Jun. 10, 2017 ($447.8 million annuity) - California
- Powerball: $276.5 million cash, Jan. 29, 2020 ($396.9 million annuity) - Florida
- Powerball: $273.9 million cash, Mar. 17, 2018 ($456.7 million annuity) - Pennsylvania
- Powerball: $263.5 million cash, Feb. 22, 2017 ($435.3 million annuity) - Indiana
The number of jackpot cash values in the top 25, by lottery game, are:
- Powerball: 15
- Mega Millions: 10
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It started September 18th so just over 4 months of drawings to hit a billion dollars.
So is the winner a group of players, or is it one individual player??? Inquiring minds want to know!! G5
What a great win. Perfect way to start off the new year ! Congrats lucky player(s). Enjoy your newly acquired wealth.
How do you find out if the numbers that we drawn were EASY PICKS
or the persons own number??? does anyone know how to
get the answers for winning numbers that are EASY PICK??
Thanks
Too few second prize winners on a record jackpot. Why not just set the games back to 8 years ago matrixes and hold big multistate raffles once a year or every other year to get the billion dollar jackpots.
For how many tickets that must have been sold here there were NO second prizes in Michigan and it has taken 4 years to get a jackpot!
That is the definition of a terrible game! The MM and PB used to be much much better games.
On the old matrixes there were more winners and the JPs got to $400-$500 Million. Put the games back to what they were and have Billion dollar raffles instead!
Any way congratulations to the winner(s) and don't spend it all on booze and hookers!
Usually won't know until the ticket is cashed. I have never seen Michigan publish that info until the ticket has been cashed.
Michigan State Lottery rules allow winners to remain anonymous, I hope the winner chooses to remain private. If he/she goes public, his/her dream will become a nightmare.
we'll find out soon enough, I reckon 😏
what are the odds every news crew from across the state will be camped out by every claim office ??
Wrong!!!
In Michigan the winners of the Multi-state games can not remain anonymous.
Only Michigan games over $10,000 wins can opt out. Does NOT apply to the multistate games.
Zero!
Whoever won that has to go to Lansing to cash it!
Haven't the last couple billion dollar winning tickets were bought fr a grocery store?
Publix and now Kroger
It's an anonymous state, that's for sure
When it's collected
Thanks for the correction