$1.586 billion Powerball jackpot split three ways, January 2016

The Powerball jackpot for Wednesday 13 January 2016 stood at $1.586 billion, the largest in US history at the time. It had been building since 4 November 2015, when it was last reset to $40 million. A Texas lottery official said sales were expected to reach about $1.3 million a minute during the evening rush.

The numbers drawn were 4, 8, 19, 27 and 34, with Powerball 10. Three tickets matched them all: one from California, one from Florida and one from Tennessee. Split three ways, each share was worth more than $500 million before tax.

The California ticket came from a 7-Eleven in a Los Angeles suburb, which was due a $1 million bonus for selling it. Crowds and news crews soon gathered outside. The odds of a single line winning the jackpot were about 1 in 292 million.

The prize remained the US record until a $2.04 billion Powerball jackpot was won in 2022.

Sources

• Al Jazeera (aljazeera.com)
• ABC7 News (abc7news.com)
• USA Today via Yahoo News (yahoo.com)