Winning Powerball Ticket for $2.04 Billion Jackpot Sold

A customer at a 7-Eleven store checks the numbers on his Powerball lottery ticket in Chicago, Ill., on Aug. 7, 2013. Scott Olson/Getty Images

A jackpot-winning Powerball ticket was sold in Southern California for the record $2.04 billion prize, lottery officials announced Tuesday.

The Powerball prize has an estimated cash value of $997.6 million before taxes, California Lottery officials said. The winning ticket—which matches all six numbers—was sold at Joe’s Service Center in Altadena, an unincorporated area within Los Angeles County.

The winning numbers in Monday’s drawing are 10, 33, 41, 47, 56, and the Powerball number is 10. No tickets have been sold that match all six numbers since early August.

“This means #CALottery has made its FIRST EVER billionaire,” the California Lottery wrote on Twitter, although history has shown the winner will likely take the $997 million cash payout rather than the annuity spread over 30 years.

Officials did not reveal if the jackpot winner has come forward. It can take weeks or even months for the winner to claim the prize.

One Powerball ticket sold in Florida won the lottery’s Power Play Match that has a cash value of $2 million. Officials said that 23 other tickets sold across the United States won the Powerball Match, worth $1 million.

Monday night’s Powerball drawing was delayed for several hours until Tuesday morning due to issues with a participating lottery.

“Powerball has strict security requirements that must be met by all 48 lotteries before a drawing can occur,'' a California Lottery spokesperson told NBC4.

The Powerball jackpot is by far the largest lottery jackpot ever, reaching the previous record of $1.586 billion in 2016. Three Powerball winners won that prize at the time.

Powerball is played in 45 states, Puerto Rico, the District of Columbia, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Taxes

The winner, should he or she take the cash payout option, will have a hefty tax bill. The winner will immediately owe 24 percent to the Internal Revenue Service in federal taxes and would then have to pay additional taxes when they file, according to a CNBC article on winners’ tax bill.

The highest federal tax bracket is 37 percent, applying to individuals who make $539,900 and $647,850 for married couples.

Winners also have to pay state taxes, although not in 14 states. Alabama, Alaska, California, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Nevada, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Washington state, and Wyoming do not have additional taxes on lottery winnings, according to Fortune magazine.

The magazine’s analysis added that winners could have to pay as much as 8.82 percent in state taxes depending on where they live. The District of Columbia, meanwhile, levies a 10.75 percent tax on high earners.