Winning $1.22-billion Mega Millions ticket sold in California

Clara Harter, Los Angeles Times on Dec 28, 2024

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A Mega Millions lottery ticket sold at a Shasta County, California, gas station hit the whopping estimated $1.22-billion jackpot on Friday, officials said.

The ticket was sold at Sunshine Food and Gas, located at 3505 Rhonda Road in Cottonwood with the winning numbers 3-7-37-49-55 − 6 MegaBall, with 3x MegaPlier, the California Lottery announced. The identity of the new billionaire was not immediately known.

The jackpot winner will have the option to either receive their winnings in a series of payments over 30 years or as lump sum cash payout of roughly $549.7 million. Winners typically take the cash option, according to lottery officials.

The jackpot is the fifth-largest prize in Mega Millions history, and comes at the tail end of a year with unusually few jackpot wins, according to the the lottery. Before Friday night, the jackpot had been won only three times in 2024, the fewest wins in any single year since the game began in 2002.

"Congratulations to our $1.22-billion jackpot winner from California," Joshua Johnston, lead director for the Mega Millions Consortium, said in a statement. "What an amazing present this holiday season!"

The $1.22-billion jackpot had been growing since Sept. 10, when a player won a $810-million prize from a ticket sold at a gas station in Sugar Land, Texas. It marks the seventh time the Mega Millions jackpot has surpassed the $1-billion mark.

The previous $6 billion-plus jackpots have all been won in different states — South Carolina in 2018, Michigan in 2021, Illinois in 2022, Maine and Florida in 2023 and New Jersey in March, according to the lottery. The game's record $1.6-billion jackpot was won in Florida in 2023.