Oregon's $1.326bn Powerball jackpot goes to a couple and their friend, 2024

The Powerball draw for Saturday 6 April 2024 was held more than three hours late, because one lottery needed extra time for its pre-draw checks. One ticket, sold at a convenience store in Portland, Oregon, matched 22, 27, 44, 52, 69 and Powerball 9 to win $1.326 billion, the largest Powerball prize ever won in Oregon.

On 29 April the Oregon Lottery introduced the winners at a news conference. Cheng 'Charlie' Saephan, 46, was born in Laos and moved to the US in 1994. He told reporters he had been living with cancer for eight years and had received chemotherapy the week before.

He had bought the tickets with his wife and a friend, who had put in $100. The friend took half of the prize and the couple a quarter each. They chose the one-off cash payment, worth $621 million before tax and about $422 million between the three of them after tax, rather than annual payments.

Saephan said the money meant he could provide for his family and find a good doctor for himself, and that he hoped for a normal life and a home for his family. A year later the Oregon Lottery said he had bought a new home for his family.

Sources

• Powerball: Ticket in Oregon wins $1.326 billion Powerball jackpot (powerball.com)
• NBC News (AP): $1.3 billion Powerball winner is an immigrant from Laos battling cancer (29 April 2024) (nbcnews.com)
• CNN via ABC17: Oregon man battling cancer revealed as winner of $1.3 billion Powerball jackpot (abc17news.com)
• Oregon Lottery: One year later, Powerball winner (April 2025) (oregonlottery.org)