"Did anyone actually win?" "Who won the $1.8 billion Powerball?" "What happened to the guy who won $2 billion?" These are some of the most-searched lottery questions in America — and the answers are real, verifiable, and often stranger than you'd expect. Here's a guide to the biggest Powerball and Mega Millions jackpot winners, who they are (when we know), and what happened next. Updated for 2026.
Did someone really win the $1.8 billion Powerball?
Yes — twice, actually, which is why this question confuses people. There have been two separate ~$1.8 billion Powerball jackpots in recent memory:
- $1.817 billion — Christmas Eve, December 24, 2025. A single ticket sold at a Murphy USA station in Cabot, Arkansas matched all six numbers (4, 25, 31, 52, 59 and Powerball 19). It was the largest Powerball prize of 2025 and the second-largest in U.S. history. The winner took the lump-sum cash option of about $834.9 million and chose to stay private.
- $1.787 billion — September 6, 2025. This one was split between two tickets, one sold at a QuikTrip in St. Louis, Missouri and one in Fredericksburg, Texas (numbers 11, 23, 44, 61, 62 and Powerball 17). Each winner took a lump sum of about $410.3 million, and both stayed anonymous.
So yes — real people, real tickets, real money. The "did anyone win" searches usually spike right after a long jackpot run finally ends.
What happened to the guy who won $2 billion?
The biggest lottery prize in world history is the $2.04 billion Powerball jackpot drawn November 7, 2022. The winner, Edwin Castro of Altadena, California, took a lump sum of about $997.6 million.
What happened next has been well documented. Castro faced a lawsuit from a man named Jose Rivera who claimed the winning ticket had been stolen from him; a Los Angeles judge dismissed that suit in 2024 after lottery officials and security footage confirmed Castro's purchase. Castro went on a real-estate run — a $25.5 million Hollywood Hills mansion plus homes in Malibu and Altadena — and in January 2025 reportedly lost one of his Malibu properties in the Los Angeles wildfires. A cautionary thread runs through almost every big-winner story; we cover it in what really happens to lottery winners five years later.
Florida's record: the $1.58 billion Mega Millions
Florida players ask this one a lot, and the answer has a local twist. The $1.58 billion Mega Millions jackpot drawn August 8, 2023 — the largest in that game's history — was won on a ticket sold at a Publix in Neptune Beach, Florida. The prize was claimed by "Saltines Holdings LLC," a Miami-based entity, who took a lump sum of about $794.2 million. Claiming through an LLC is a classic move to preserve privacy: under Florida law, winners of $250,000 or more are shielded from public disclosure for 90 days, and a trust or company can extend that shield. More on that in our state-by-state anonymity guide.
The rest of the billion-dollar club
A handful of other jackpots people search for by amount:
- $1.22 billion Mega Millions — won December 27, 2024 on a ticket sold in Cottonwood, California (cash value about $549.7 million).
- $1.128 billion Mega Millions — won March 26, 2024 in New Jersey.
- $1.765 billion Powerball — won October 2023 in California.
- $1.537 billion Mega Millions — won October 2018 in South Carolina, where the winner remained anonymous.
"Did they find the winner?" and unclaimed jackpots
Most jackpots are claimed within weeks, but big winners often wait — assembling a legal and financial team before coming forward is smart, and many states allow 90 days to a full year to claim. That gap is why "did they find the $100 million winner?" trends: the ticket is usually accounted for, the person is just taking their time. Occasionally a prize genuinely goes unclaimed and the money is redirected to that state's public-education or general fund. The lesson is simple: check every ticket, and don't wait too long — the deadline to choose the lump sum is often shorter than the deadline to claim at all. Our step-by-step claim guide covers the clock.
How to check who won any specific drawing
For "did anyone win the Powerball last night?" or any specific date, you don't need a news article — you need the official result. Our homepage shows the latest Powerball and Mega Millions winning numbers, jackpot status (won or rolling), and every state's games, updated the moment draws are posted. As of early June 2026, both games were rolling again after recent drawings produced no jackpot winner — which is exactly how the next billion-dollar run begins.
For entertainment only. Jackpot odds are roughly 1 in 292 million (Powerball) and 1 in 290 million (Mega Millions). Play responsibly — 1-800-GAMBLER.