Lotteries around the world have hit all-time highs, the EuroMillions, Lotto, Powerball & the MegaMillions, but which one claimed the throne for biggest jackpot in world lottery history?! Right here you’ll find out how high these jackpots climbed, and how there could potentially be an unclaimed billionaire (more on that later).
4 – Lotto: €66 Million, May 2016
For the Lotto, the biggest jackpot ever won was on Saturday 9th January 2016, where two UK ticket holders shared a massive €66M. The jackpot had 15 successive rollovers from Saturday 14th November 2015, before being scooped by David & Carol Martin from Hawick, Scotland and an anonymous player who had bought their ticket in Worcester – Both sharing €33M each.
For this win, the jackpot cap for the Lotto was set at €50M, with the jackpot cap being revised to €22M later in 2016. It’s quite unlikely that this kind of jackpot would never be able to be won again for the Lotto – Even luckier for the winner then eh?
3 – EuroMillions: €190 Million, August 2012
Suffolk, England was where the Bayford family scooped a €190M jackpot on Friday 10th August 2012. This is one of the joint biggest jackpots ever to be won in EuroMillions history. The winners claimed a jackpot that rolled-over, 14 times, after eventually reaching the jackpot cap.
The winners of this jackpot splashed the cash on luxury cars, helicopter flights & mansions! Living the life of luxury, that’s for sure.
Who won the other one? An anonymous player in Portugal claimed a similar €190M jackpot on Friday 24th October 2014. With the Superdraw held three weeks earlier, this jackpot eventually reached the jackpot cap after rolling 5 times.
2 – Powerball: $1.58 Billion, January 2016
Won on January 13th, 2016, winning tickets were claimed in California, Florida and Tennessee, with each ticket worth at least $528.8 million.
The California winners opted to stay anonymous and did not wish to become public figures, with the wish of designating most of their winnings to charity.
They said: “We are thankful and blessed for the rare gift that has been placed in our care. We have engaged a team of advisors to educate and guide us through this process so that we can be good stewards of these new resources.”
1 – The biggest in world lottery, MegaMillions: $1.59 Billion, October 2018
The biggest world lottery jackpot of all time is yet to be claimed! Yep, you read that right! The MegaMillions reached an all-time high of $1.59 Billion in October 2018! The winning ticket was purchased in South Carolina, matching all 6 numbers on Tuesday night.
But! And this is a big but, the winner has yet to claim this colossal jackpot! Time is certainly running out for this winner to step forward, with the deadline being on April 2019.
The $1.59 billion jackpot would be paid over 30 years, or alternatively an upfront sum of $878 million. This would mean that the state will lose out on $61 million in income taxes, usually paid by the winner.
There you have it, the highest jackpots in world lottery, with an unannounced billionaire yet to step forward!
1 in 5 jackpots are won by lottery syndicates! So the next time these lotteries hit all-time highs, be sure to join our ready-made syndicates to ensure you are always in the draw, and increase your chances to win such huge jackpots, right here at Lotto Social.