Winner is from a family looking to serve their community while enjoying privacy
By Kate Northrop
AUSTIN, Texas — A Texas trust has stepped forward to claim the second half of the historic $1.787 billion Powerball lottery jackpot, just a couple weeks after the Missouri winner had claimed their share.
On Monday, the Texas Lottery announced that a trust has claimed their share of the $1.8 billion Powerball jackpot and plans on using their lottery winnings to serve their community.
The winner has filed their claim under Seven Bridges Revocable Trust, which is based in Fredericksburg, Texas. It was the second-largest jackpot ever won in U.S. lottery history, behind the $2 billion Powerball jackpot won by California native Edwin Castro.
The Texas trust chose to receive their half as a $410,324,470.28 cash value of the prize, the biggest prize ever paid out to a Texas lottery player.
One of the best things about winning the lottery in Texas is that there is no state tax on lottery prizes, with only federal taxes to pay. According to USA Mega, the Texas winner would have walked away with around $258.5 million after federal taxes.
The Missouri winner took home a bit less, since he paid a state tax of 4.7% on top of the federal taxes due.
A trust representative told the Lottery that the winning ticketholder would normally select random numbers to play in the drawings, but this time was different.
The numbers they played for the Sept. 6 Powerball drawing were ones that were meaningful to them, but when they purchased their ticket, they realized that one of the numbers in their line was different than the one they wanted to pick.
The winner was on the way to church the morning after the draw when they realized it was the best mistake that could have ever happened to them. Their ticket had matched all five white ball numbers plus the red Powerball number to lay claim to half the $1.8 billion Powerball jackpot. They pulled over to check their ticket a few more times, placed it in the glovebox, and then headed inside.
Those winning numbers were 11, 23, 44, 61, and 62, with Powerball number 17. Their winning ticket was purchased at Big's 103 on U.S. Highway 290, and for selling it, the retailer received a $250,000 bonus from the Lottery.
A representative of the trust provided a statement to the Lottery from the winner, who publicizes themselves as a Texan looking to serve their community while enjoying peace and privacy together with their family.
"We are Texas true to the state and its values," the winner's statement reads. "We believe in family, in faith, and in the blessings that come through both. This is a moment of gratitude for us, a blessing we plan to enjoy and share with those who are special to us and who serve our community. We ask for privacy as we look forward to enjoying our lives together as a family. God bless Texas."
This is the third time someone in Texas won a Powerball jackpot since the state began offering the game in 2010. The last time Powerball had a winner in Texas was in 2015, when one player from Austin split a $564.1 million prize with two other winners.
"We're excited to celebrate this milestone with the claimant of the largest jackpot prize in Texas Lottery history," Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation Executive Director Courtney Arbour said in a press release. "This record-setting prize shows that any Texas Lottery ticket could be the next big winner, all while helping to generate vital funding for public education and veterans' services right here in Texas."
The next Powerball annuity jackpot estimate for the drawing on Monday, Oct. 13 currently stands at $258 million.
Powerball is currently offered for sale in 45 states, plus Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Drawings are Mondays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays at 10:59 p.m. Eastern Time. Tickets cost $2 each.
Powerball lottery results are published within minutes of the drawing at USA Mega (www.usamega.com). The USA Mega website provides lottery players in-depth information about the United States' two biggest multi-state lottery games, Mega Millions and Powerball.
As they say everything big happens in Texas. congratulations 🎉 🎉 🎉 🎉 to the big winner
I have a question. Did the winner have to form a trust to claim the prize? I thought Texas allowed winners to remain anonymous. What are the benefits of using a trust in this instance?
good question. the name of the trust suggests it could be a seven person pool.
I think so too. Even in an anonymous state, I would plan to see if the state would allow me to use a trust to claim a huge jackpot. Muddying and distancing that chain of custody to my name...lol.
Interesting tidbit, Woodlands Texas, 7 bridges Capitol Partners with offices in Mexico, Columbia and Brazil.
Congrats to whomever won the money.
Ohhh that is smart. Park all the money with the investment firm while you decide what purchases or other investments to make. Then the money transfers for purchases will show the source of funds as being from the investment firm. People will just assume you made your $ from investing or family wealth.
* l wonder if the Texas lottery is going to open up an investigation into this Trust outfit? They love stirring the pot, just look what they put that poor TX woman through..🤨
If the state lottery allows a trust to claim winnings, which obviously they did, there would be no justification that I am aware of to open an investigation. The trust collected the winnings. It is an investment firm.
The trust was not created to play the lottery. The state lotteries do not control where you deposit and invest your winnings.
"Did the winner have to form a trust to claim the prize? "
There's no reason that a winner would be required to form a trust or an LLC to claim a prize but there are plenty of good reasons to do it. Among other things, both are separate legal entities (you remember "corporations are people, my friend"?) so the actual winner has access to the deep pockets but doesn't actually have deep pockets that are potentially accessible to anyone who files a lawsuit. It also lets you avoid probate.
"the name of the trust suggests it could be a seven person pool. "
Unless a/the winner is a partner in the firm I cant imagine an investment firm (especially a large international firm) using their name for a client's trust even if that client brings them $250 million, so that's pretty much the last explanation I'd expect. I also don't see any reason for "bridges" to be related to people, so I'd guess that being a fan of the song is a pretty good bet for the choice of name, although there could be all sorts of reasons/meanings. The name of the song is based on a real place, and there are plenty of other uses of "seven bridges".
"l wonder if the Texas lottery is going to open up an investigation into this Trust outfit?"
I'm sure the TX lottery had a good grasp of how the ticket was purchased within 15 minutes of the office opening the next day, if not sooner. OTOH, I imagine that a lot of people saw that it was claimed by a trust and considered that this was another organized effort. Aside from the difficulty of buying 290 million combinations, the $580 million cost is far too risky for a cash prize of $800 million with a good chance of being split at least 2 ways.
when i win i will name my trust after the first thing i see when i open my front door.
*opens door*
two skunks wrestling by the trash cans trust
Just a reminder that some states do not allow winnings to be claimed with a trust.