A lottery ticket sold in Florida has won the $1.58 billion prize, among the highest in the world, Forbes said in a report. The ticket matched all six numbers drawn on Tuesday night - 32, 19, 13, 33, 20 and 14 - according to Mega Millions website. However, the lottery authorities have not revealed where the ticket was sold in the Sunshine State (Florida is called that in the US). The final prize of the jackpot is also know immediately known.
Forbes said if the winner decides to take a lump sum amount, the prize will be cut roughly in half to $783.3 million. Further, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) will get 24 per cent as tax, reducing the winner's amount to $595,308,000.
The outlet said gambling winnings are subject to mandatory federal withholding taxes.
In some of the US states, there are state taxes too - ranging from 2.5% in Arizona to 10.9% in New York. However, the ticket was purchased in Florida and it doesn't levy such a tax.
The last time there was an overall winner was back on April 18.
This is the third-largest US lottery jackpot ever, after $2.04 billion Powerball jackpot in 2022 and $1.56 billion in 2016, said CBS News.
Apart from the grand prize, seven tickets won million-dollar prizes. These were sold in Florida, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Texas and West Virginia.
Mega Millions drawings are held every Tuesday and Friday at 11 pm and the tickets cost $2. The odds of winning the jackpot are about 1 in 303 million.
