Illinois ticket claims $1.04 billion Powerball jackpot after 44 drawings without a winner

A Powerball ticket purchased in Illinois matched all six winning numbers — 4, 26, 66, 67, 69 and red Powerball 9 — in Wednesday night's drawing, claiming a jackpot of $1.04 billion, the largest lottery prize of the year and the eighth-largest in Powerball history. The winner has not yet been publicly identified.

The jackpot had gone unclaimed for 44 consecutive drawings since May 2, when, according to the New York Post, two ticket holders in Texas and Florida shared a $20 million payout. The Florida ticket from that drawing remains unclaimed, according to the Post.

The winner may choose between an annuitized prize of $1.040 billion, paid in 30 graduated installments over 29 years, or a one-time lump-sum cash payment of $450.5 million. Both figures are before taxes.

The prize is subject to an automatic federal withholding of 24 percent, with an additional 13 percent owed in federal taxes when the winner files a 2026 return, according to NBC Connecticut. State taxes, where applicable, range from 2.9 percent to 10.9 percent, though residents of California, Florida, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, or Wyoming would owe no state tax on the winnings.

Wednesday's jackpot ranks as the eighth-largest in Powerball history. According to the New York Post, it surpasses the $842.4 million jackpot won on New Year's Day 2024 by a group calling themselves 'The Breakfast Club,' who purchased their ticket at a Food Castle grocery store in Grand Blanc, Michigan, and chose the $425.2 million cash option. According to NBC Connecticut, the largest lottery jackpot in U.S. history was $2.04 billion, won by a single Powerball ticket in California on November 7, 2022, later claimed by Edwin Castro.

According to the New York Post, Wednesday's win is the largest since Tracy Hartwick claimed a $1.82 billion jackpot drawn on Christmas Eve in Cabot, Arkansas — the second-largest Powerball jackpot in history. The Post reports Hartwick chose the lump-sum cash option and divided it with his brother and a third non-relative. Hartwick's identity was kept confidential for six months because his brother, Terry Hartwick, serves as mayor of North Little Rock, per Arkansas Act 889 of 2021, according to the Post.

The odds of winning the Powerball jackpot are 1 in 292.2 million, as reported by NBC Connecticut, or more precisely 1 in 292,201,338 according to the New York Post. Powerball is played in 45 states plus Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the United Kingdom, according to NBC Connecticut.

Stephen Durrell, Chair of the Powerball Product Group and Executive Director of the Kansas Lottery, congratulated the Illinois winner, saying the game has demonstrated over three decades that a winning ticket can be sold anywhere it is played.

• The identity of the Illinois jackpot winner has not been disclosed in any source.
• The specific retailer or location in Illinois where the winning ticket was sold is not reported by either source.
• Whether the winner has yet contacted lottery officials or indicated a payment preference is not established.
• The winner's comment or reaction has not been reported.
• The status of the unclaimed Florida ticket from the May 2 drawing is noted but not fully resolved in the sources.

1. NBC Connecticut — original — by NBC Staff
2. New York Post — by Nicholas McEntyre

Read the original at NBC Connecticut

• US women's national team loses 2-0 to No. 1-ranked Spain in Washington friendly
• Overdue cannabis invoices strain New Jersey dispensary market, operators say
• Muncy says he knows which Dodgers player was exposed in clubhouse video, won't name him
• Steven Quay no longer leading choice to head NIAID, source tells STAT
• Society of Composers & Lyricists Opens First International Chapter in London
• Pentagon Plans to Livestream Execution of Fort Hood Shooter Nidal Hasan, Hegseth Says