Who Won the $1.6 Billion Powerball Jackpot?

January 13, 2016 will always be remembered as one of the greatest days in the history of lotteries, because that was when the winners of the world-record $1.6 billion Powerball jackpot were announced. There have been 3 winners of the Wednesday night’s Powerball draw, of which only one of the ticket holders have come forward and identified themselves.

The three lucky tickets were bought in Munford, Tennessee, a small working town with a population of under 6,000; Chino Hills, a quiet suburb of Los Angeles and at a supermarket Florida’s affluent Melbourne Beach. A middle-aged couple has claimed one of the winning tickets, netting as much as $533 million.

John Robinson and his wife Lisa from Munford, Tennessee have been confirmed as the winners of the Powerball jackpot. They have got their winning ticket verified by lottery officials, and so it is official. The Robinsons say that they have no intention of quitting their jobs or buying a new house.

They bought their ticket at a local grocery shop and say that they have no intention of leaving their close-knit community in Munford. Both John and Lisa claim that life for them will continue to remain the same and expect no major changes to happen because of the win.

John and Lisa overcame odds of 1 in 292.2 million to pick the winning numbers – 4-8-19-27-34 and Powerball 10. They have the choice of collecting an estimated $533 million through 30 annual payments – collected over 30 years, or take a lump sum of $327 million in cash – before taxes.

They were presented with a huge check of $528.8 million, but that’s apparently just for show. John and Lisa are yet to decide on the best option for them – take a lump sum payment or commit to annual payments over 30 years. As if now, they will be handed a payment of $2 million by lottery officials and will be given the rest of the prize in 10 years, depending on their choice.

The Robinsons appeared at a press conference arranged by Lottery Tennessee at their headquarters last Friday along with their daughter Tiffany, and requested the members of the media to respect their privacy as they were just “common folk from a small town.”

John Robinson said that he had bought the ticket at the very last minute, while on the way home from work, just three hours before the draw. The Robinsons were stunned on finding out that they had indeed won the winning ticket in the Wednesday night’s Powerball draw.

The Robinsons have since gone public by going on the Today show as they were advised by their lawyers to appear on national TV before presenting the ticket to lottery officials in Tennessee. The idea is to be in control of the story, before it gets blown up by the media.

Most lawyers who have represented other lottery winners don’t agree with this decision as they say that a lottery winner shouldn’t go public with their win until they have created a system to handle such a windfall – which means hiring experts in security, tax law, financial planning, and have safeguards in place to protect their privacy.

However, the Robinsons couldn’t afford to stay anonymous as lottery winners in the state of Tennessee cannot remain anonymous by law. Their names and hometown are entered into public record by state officials.

Regardless, this concludes a successful start to 2016 by Powerball, which has now stolen a march over Mega Millions with this huge jackpot and established itself as the world’s biggest lottery. For last week’s draw alone, a record $1,270,206,274 worth tickets were sold.

Powerball tickets were so popular that they were selling at the rate of 37,000 per minute in the state of California alone! California witnessed record ticket sales of $386 million. The lure of the world’s biggest jackpot draw certainly drew more people to buy Powerball lottery tickets.

Now the hunt is on to identify the holders of the two other winning tickets. They have smartly decided to stay anonymous, so far. We will be sure to bring their stories to you should they choose to reveal themselves. Meanwhile, you can play the Powerball lottery too! Buy your Powerball tickets at buyonlinelotto.com – who knows what can happen!