Ranking of All-Time Biggest Lottery Winners

Of all the virtual gambling verticals available in 2024, it’s the lottery that arguably remains the most popular stateside. In fact, the online lottery industry in the US alone is worth approximately $2.3 billion, with some 49% of the North American population thought to bet on the lottery irregularly nationwide. Around 10% play weekly, with 45 US states now operating a fully regulated lottery draw.

Many of the best online lottery websites in the US have authorized some significant payouts over the years, with the ‘Powerball’ and ‘Mega Millions’ games responsible for the biggest prizes. But who is the biggest lottery winner of all-time, and are there any other life-changing lotto payouts that have been made?

• Who has Claimed the Biggest Lottery Payouts?
• The Biggest Lottery Winners in USA – Who Else Has Banked Huge Jackpots?
• Winning $1.586.4 billion in CA, TN and FL
• A $1.537 Billion Payout in South Carolina
• An Anonymous $1.350 Billion Payout Maine
• What are the Biggest International Lottery Payments?

Who has Claimed the Biggest Lottery Payouts?

The aforementioned Powerball and Mega Millions games are part of most US state lotteries, and have tended to deliver the biggest payouts through history. These lottery draws are accessible to both US citizens and foreign nationals, but in most cases, the latter must be present in the States to legally purchase a ticket either on or offline.

If you scan the 25 biggest lottery payouts through US history, they’ve all been won by individuals who have purchased tickets in either the Powerball or Mega Millions draw. The Powerball game is responsible for 13 of the largest US lottery prizes through history, with Mega Millions producing 12 jackpots in excess of $500 million. These payouts typically dwarf the records in other parts of the world, but we’ll touch on this a little later in the piece.

But who is the biggest lottery winner in US history? Currently, this status belongs to a man called Edwin Castro, who resides in Altadena, California and won an incredible $2.04 billion Powerball jackpot on November 7th, 2022. He participated in the CA lottery draw and was the sole winner of this record-breaking jackpot.

Castro finally received his grand prize on Valentines’ Day, 2023, after months of stringent vetting by the California Lottery. Incredibly, he overcame odds of around 1 in 292.2 million to win a US state lottery, matching all five numbers in the November draw. At the time of purchasing the ticket, the estimated jackpot was $1.9 billion, but a final surge in sales pushed this total over the $2 billion mark.

However, Castro missed becoming an overnight billionaire by less than $3 million, as he opted for a lump-sum payout rather than having the jackpot paid in annual installments. This choice is offered to all US lottery winners, and Castro sacrificed some of his prize to walk away with a single cheque for $997.6 million. Still, this remains the single largest lottery payout to one person of all-time.

Since this time, Castro has invested heavily in real estate, purchasing three high value properties in his home state of California. He has also bought several vintage cars (including two Porsches), but otherwise appears to have taken care of his money since the draw. It should be noted that up to 70% of all US lottery winners end up entirely broke after receiving a lump-sum jackpot, but Castro has avoided this pitfall so far.

The Biggest Lottery Winners in USA – Who Else Has Banked Huge Jackpots?

Of the biggest lottery winners in USA history, six have claimed jackpots in excess of $1 billion. Four of these have been won by players through the Mega Millions lottery game, which is also widely accessible in the 45 states that have regulated this type of gambling. So, let’s take a closer look at some of the other life-changing lottery payouts that have been made!

Winning $1.586.4 Billion in CA, TN and FL

Prior to Edwin Castro’s record-breaking win in 2022, the biggest lottery payout stood at $1.586.4 billion. While this jackpot was also won in part by a Powerball player who resided in the sunshine state of California, it was also claimed by two other anonymous victors in Tennessee and Florida who received equal shares of $528 million each. These individuals instantly became the biggest lottery winners in USA history at the time.

The draw took place on January 13th, 2016, producing a result of 4-8-19-27-34 and the Powerball number (10). Three winning tickets successfully predicted these numbers, with these sold in the Chino Hills suburb of CA, Munford in Tennessee and Melbourne Beach on Flordia’s Atlantic Coast. Interestingly, none of the winners came forward immediately, so it took time to identify and verify the lucky players.

This is part of a wider and fascinating trend in US lottery draws, as more than $2 billion in annual lottery winnings goes unclaimed stateside. However, it’s rare for sizeable payouts of this type to go unclaimed, even in instances where there are multiple winning tickets sold nationwide.

A $1.537 Billion Payout in South Carolina

Another anonymous winner banked a whopping $1.537 billion payout in 2018, this time while playing the Mega Millions lottery game. The lucky winner was also able to lay claim to being the biggest lottery winner for a period, as although the 2016 Powerball lottery win produced a slightly higher jackpot, this was ultimately split between three victors.

However, just a single ticket won the 2018 prize, following a South Carolina draw on October 23rd. For a while, it was estimated that the total jackpot would pass the previous record and peak above $1.6 billion, but the final ticket sales fell a little short of this mark. Still, the payout on offer here was significant, whether it was claimed in annual increments or as a lump-sum cash prize.

The winner ultimately claimed the lump-sum prize of $877.8 million, which more than doubled the record payout in the state. This had been won in 2013 by an anonymous Powerball player, who claimed $400 million in the form of a lump-sum payout. Interestingly, the 2018 remains the only one of the top 25 lottery payouts to have been claimed in the state of SC.

An Anonymous $1.350 Billion Payout Maine

The state of Maine is another that has only produced one of the 25 biggest lottery jackpots, while it also delivered one of the more recent billion-dollar prize pots. This topped $1.350 billion in the state’s lottery draw on January 13th, 2023, and was available to those who participated in the Mega Millions game.

Once again, a single ticket purchased in ME claimed the prize, which was also the second-highest Mega Millions win in history. Unsurprisingly, the winner took the tried-and-trusted approach of remaining anonymous after receiving their prize, while they opted for a $724.6 million lump-sum payout rather than the annual installments.

What are the Biggest International Lottery Payouts?

While US state lotteries and games such as Powerball and Mega Millions are responsible for the largest payouts through US and international history, there are multiple lotto draws held daily across the globe. There are mega draws that are accessible to players across the whole of Europe, for example, and smaller events that are exclusive to individual countries. Here’s a glimpse at some of the biggest international payouts from regulated lotteries:

• Winning €371 Million in the ‘SuperEnalotto’ Draw: The national ‘SuperEnalotto’ draw is exclusive to the residents of Italy, while prizes are regularly rolled over and continue to accumulate in the event of weekly jackpots being unclaimed. In February 2023, a syndicate won a record jackpot of €371 million ($403 million), with this featuring a total of 90 individual players. Each one banked €3.4 million ($3.6 million), while this cumulative prize is bigger than the record for the coveted EuroMillions draw.
• A €230 Million EuroMillions Payout: The EuroMillions draw includes is open to all Europeans and regularly produces sizeable jackpots. It’s arguably the closest to US state draws in terms of scale, while its biggest payout was awarded to a single anonymous British player in July 2022. This lucky individual won a staggering €230 million ($250 million) and broke the record for the draw, and to provide some context, the net worth of British pop star Adele is estimated to be just €150 million ($163 million).
• The UK National Lottery: The iconic UK National Lottery launched in 1994, with weekly draws televised and accessible to players in the United Kingdom. Interestingly, the biggest payout produced by this draw came all the way back in 1996 and less than two years after its launch, when three fortunate and anonymous players claimed an equal share of a £42 million ($53.6 million) jackpot. Although the prizes associated with this and similar draws are considerably lower than US state games, the chances of winning are also significantly higher.

The Last Word

Across the globe, the 25 biggest lottery wins have all been claimed in the US, with the lucrative Powerball and Mega Millions games accounting for these jackpots. The biggest jackpot win of $2.04 billion was claimed in November 2022, but there have been countless examples of lotto prizes exceeding $500 million in total.

This explains the immense appeal of US state lottery draws, which are incredibly popular in 45 US states despite the prohibitive odds of winning. US state draws have also inspired a slew of similar lotto draws and games across the globe, including national competitions and international events like EuroMillions.