Record-Breaking $2.04 Billion Powerball Ticket Bought in California

A ticket bought in California won a world-record $2.04 billion Powerball jackpot on Tuesday — which is, ironically, the day voters determine California’s sports betting future.

This is the largest jackpot (Powerball or Mega Millions) ever.

The winning numbers: 10, 33, 41, 47, 56. And the Powerball was 10.

The winning ticket was sold just outside Los Angeles, at Joe’s Service Center in Altadena, California, per the California Lottery. There was just one winner for Tuesday’s jackpot. The California Lottery did not announce who the winner is.

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Powerball numbers were supposed to be announced Monday night. However, there was a delay because one of the 48 participating state lotteries was slow to process its sales. This is likely due to a huge surge of ticket purchases, with a record-breaking jackpot on the line.

“This has happened a few rare times before — just not when the jackpot was at a newsworthy amount,” the Multi-State Lottery Association said in a statement announcing the delay Monday.

So, these winning numbers were drawn Tuesday morning. In total, it was a 10-hour delay.

According to the California Lottery, the winner can receive one pre-tax lump sum payment of $997.6 million, or 30 payments over 30 years. The $2.04 billion jackpot would break down to 30 annual payments of $68 million (pre-tax). Nobody has chosen the one lump-sum payment in California since 2014.

If this winner chooses one payment, the IRS would take 24% in taxes ($239.4). However, California does not tax lottery winnings. So the rest of the $758.2 million would belong to the winner.

Powerball tickets cost $2. The odds of winning are 1-in-292 million. There are three number draws per week. This jackpot had been building since Aug. 3, when a Pennsylvania ticket won $206.9 million. Now, the jackpot resets to $20 million. The next drawing is Wednesday night.

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What Was the Previous Powerball Jackpot Record?

Previously, the biggest-ever Powerball jackpot was $1.586 billion. That happened in January 2016, when three winners picked the same numbers and split the jackpot. All three picked lump-sum payments, which totaled $327.8 million after taxes.

The biggest-ever single ticket winner before Tuesday was a South Carolina resident in October 2018. That was a Mega Millions jackpot, and it was $1.537 billion.