Fifth $1 billion+ jackpot won in California

Updated with final jackpot totals

By Todd Northrop

After a run of 30 drawings without a jackpot winner, the 31st drawing of the multi-state Mega Millions game produced a single $1.269 billion winner last night when one lottery ticket sold in California matched all five numbers plus the Mega Ball.

It was the 12th time a lottery jackpot had grown to more than $1 billion, and the 11th time a single ticket won $1 billion or more.

For California, it is the fifth time a jackpot of $1 billion or more was won in the state, although one of those wins was split by winning tickets in other states. The last billion-dollar jackpot win in the state was on Oct. 12, 2023, when a California ticket won a $1.76 billion Powerball jackpot. The massive prize was claimed by a group of winners represented by Theodorus Struyck.

The winner of the unimaginable haul from last night's drawing will choose between being paid $1.269 billion in 30 annually-increasing payments over 29 years or the lump-sum cash value of $571.9 million.

The whopping jackpot is the 9th-largest the world has ever seen, and the 5th-largest in Mega Millions game history.

According to USA Mega's Mega Millions Jackpot Analysis, after all taxes are paid, the winner either will receive $800.7 million by the end of 29 years, or $360.3 million in cash all at once. California has no state taxes on lottery prizes, meaning only federal taxes will be imposed on the prize.

Per California law, the winner has 180 days from the date of the drawing to come forward to claim the prize.

The winning ticket was purchased at Sunshine Food and Gas on Rhonda Road in Cottonwood, California — a small town in Shasta County, which is located in the northern part of the state.

The Mega Millions winning numbers for Friday, December 27, 2024, were 3, 7, 37, 49, and 55, with Mega Ball number 6. The Megaplier was 3.

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?

(Here's what we would do.)

The public will eventually find out the identity of the winner, as California does not allow lottery winners to remain anonymous.

Lottery Post maintains a list of every state's anonymity policies for lottery winners, and Lottery Post published a comprehensive video presentation about each state's anonymity laws.

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, 5 lucky players matched the first 5 numbers for a $1,000,000 prize: 1 from Arizona, 2 from California, 1 from Missouri, and 1 from Texas.

None of the second prize-winning tickets was purchased with the Megaplier option for an extra $1. If they had, their prize would have been tripled to $3 million because the Megaplier number 3 was drawn.

The California second prize winner will each claim a prize of $787,543 because 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.

157 tickets matched four white numbers plus the Mega Ball and won $10,000. Of those tickets, 28 were purchased with the Megaplier option, increasing the prize to $30,000, and 23 were sold in California, where the prize was $9,487 this drawing.

In total, nearly 5.7 million tickets won prizes across the game's nine prize tiers in Friday's drawing. Apart from the jackpot, there were $36.3 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 largest lottery jackpot ever awarded was on Nov. 7, 2022, when one Powerball ticket sold in California won a $2 billion grand prize.  The incredibly lucky winner was Edwin Castro, who claimed the prize in February of 2023, providing minimal public information about himself.  What little is known about Castro comes from public filings, and includes the purchases of houses one, two, and three, as well as being the subject of dubious lawsuits that are unfortunately predictable these days. (The lawsuit was thrown out in October.)

The odds of winning the Mega Millions jackpot are 1 in 302.6 million.

With the jackpot being won Friday, the next Mega Millions annuity jackpot estimate for Tuesday's drawing 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 $1.269 billion Mega Millions jackpot stands as the 9th-largest lottery jackpot of all time in the United States — and the world.

1. Powerball: $2.0401 billion, Nov. 7, 2022 (40 rollovers, starting at $20 million) - California
2. Powerball: $1.7649 billion, Oct. 11, 2023 (35 rollovers, starting at $20 million) - California
3. Mega Millions: $1.602 billion, Aug. 8, 2023 (31 rollovers, starting at $20 million) - Florida
4. Powerball: $1.5864 billion, Jan. 13, 2016 (19 rollovers, starting at $40 million) - California, Florida, Tennessee
5. Mega Millions: $1.537 billion, Oct. 23, 2018 (25 rollovers, starting at $40 million) - South Carolina
6. Mega Millions: $1.348 billion, Jan. 13, 2023 (25 rollovers, starting at $20 million) - Maine
7. Mega Millions: $1.337 billion, Jul. 29, 2022 (29 rollovers, starting at $20 million) - Illinois
8. Powerball: $1.3259 billion, Apr. 6, 2024 (40 rollovers, starting at $20 million) - Oregon
9. Mega Millions: $1.269 billion, Dec. 27, 2024 (30 rollovers, starting at $20 million) - California
10. Mega Millions: $1.128 billion, Mar. 26, 2024 (30 rollovers, starting at $20 million) - New Jersey
11. Powerball: $1.0798 billion, Jul. 19, 2023 (38 rollovers, starting at $20 million) - California
12. Mega Millions: $1.05 billion, Jan. 22, 2021 (36 rollovers, starting at $20 million) - Michigan
13. Powerball: $842.4 million, Jan. 1, 2024 (34 rollovers, starting at $20 million) - Michigan
14. Mega Millions: $800 million, Sep. 10, 2024 (27 rollovers, starting at $20 million) - Texas
15. Powerball: $768.4 million, Mar. 27, 2019 (25 rollovers, starting at $40 million) - Wisconsin
16. Powerball: $758.7 million, Aug. 23, 2017 (20 rollovers, starting at $40 million) - Massachusetts
17. Powerball: $754.6 million, Feb. 6, 2023 (33 rollovers, starting at $20 million) - Washington
18. Powerball: $731.1 million, Jan. 20, 2021 (35 rollovers, starting at $20 million) - Maryland
19. Powerball: $699.8 million, Oct. 4, 2021 (40 rollovers, starting at $20 million) - California
20. Powerball: $687.8 million, Oct. 27, 2018 (21 rollovers, starting at $40 million) - Iowa, New York
21. Mega Millions: $656 million, Mar. 30, 2012 (18 rollovers, starting at $12 million) - Illinois, Kansas, Maryland
22. Mega Millions: $648 million, Dec. 17, 2013 (21 rollovers, starting at $12 million) - California, Georgia
23. Powerball: $632.6 million, Jan 5, 2022 (39 rollovers, starting at $20 million) - California, Wisconsin
24. Powerball: $590.5 million, May 18, 2013 (13 rollovers, starting at $40 million) - Florida
25. Powerball: $587.5 million, Nov. 28, 2012 (15 rollovers, starting at $40 million) - Arizona, Missouri

For those keeping score, the number of jackpots in the top 25, by lottery game, are:

• Powerball: 15
• Mega Millions: 10

Top 25 cash value jackpots

The Friday Mega Millions jackpot ranks as the 10th-largest cash value in world history.

1. Powerball: $997.6 million cash, Nov. 7, 2022 ($2.0401 billion annuity) - California
2. Powerball: $983.5 million cash, Jan. 13, 2016 ($1.5864 billion annuity) - California, Florida, Tennessee
3. Mega Millions: $877.8 million cash, Oct. 23, 2018 ($1.537 billion annuity) - South Carolina
4. Mega Millions: $794.2 million cash, Aug. 8, 2023 ($1.602 billion annuity) - Florida
5. Mega Millions: $780.5 million cash, Jul. 29, 2022 ($1.337 billion annuity) - Illinois
6. Mega Millions: $776.6 million cash, Jan. 22, 2021 ($1.05 billion annuity) - Michigan
7. Powerball: $774.1 million cash, Oct. 11, 2023 ($1.7649 billion annuity) - California
8. Mega Millions: $723.5 million cash, Jan. 13, 2023 ($1.348 billion annuity) - Maine
9. Powerball: $621 million cash, Apr. 6, 2024 ($1.3259 billion annuity) - Oregon
10. Mega Millions: $571.9 million cash, Dec. 27, 2024 ($1.269 billion annuity) - California
11. Powerball: $558.1 million cash, Jul. 19, 2023 ($1.0798 billion annuity) - California
12. Powerball: $546.8 million cash, Jan. 20, 2021 ($731.1 million annuity) - Maryland
13. Mega Millions: $536.6 million cash, Mar. 26, 2024 ($1.128 billion annuity) - New Jersey
14. Powerball: $496 million cash, Oct. 4, 2021 ($699.8 million annuity) - California
15. Powerball: $480.5 million cash, Aug. 23, 2017 ($758.7 million annuity) - Massachusetts
16. Powerball: $477 million cash, Mar. 27, 2019 ($768.4 million annuity) - Wisconsin
17. Mega Millions: $471 million cash, Mar. 30, 2012 ($656 million annuity) - Illinois, Kansas, Maryland
18. Powerball: $450.2 million cash, Jan. 5, 2022 ($632.6 million annuity) - California, Wisconsin
19. Powerball: $425.2 million cash, Jan. 1, 2024 ($842.4 million annuity) - Michigan
20. Powerball: $407.2 million cash, Feb. 6, 2023 ($754.6 million annuity) - Washington
21. Mega Millions: $404.2 million cash, Sep. 10, 2024 ($800 million annuity) - Texas
22. Powerball: $396.2 million cash, Oct. 27, 2018 ($687.8 million annuity) - Iowa, New York
23. Powerball: $384.7 million cash, Nov. 28, 2012 ($587.5 million annuity) - Arizona, Missouri
24. Powerball: $381.1 million cash, Feb. 11, 2015 ($564.1 million annuity) - North Carolina, Puerto Rico, Texas
25. Mega Millions: $378 million cash, Jul. 8, 2016 ($536 million annuity) - Indiana

The number of cash value jackpots in the top 25, by lottery game, are:

• Powerball: 15
• Mega Millions: 10

(Click to display full-size in gallery)The Sunshine Food and Gas on Rhonda Road in Cottonwood, California, sold the winning ticket for a $1.22 billion Mega Millions jackpot.