Record $2.04 billion Powerball jackpot won on one ticket in California

The US Powerball draw for Monday 7 November 2022 carried a jackpot of $2.04 billion, the largest in US lottery history at the time. A problem verifying one state's sales held the draw back by nearly 10 hours, so the balls were drawn on the Tuesday morning. One ticket matched 10, 33, 41, 47 and 56 with Powerball 10.

The ticket had been sold at Joe's Service Center in Altadena, in Los Angeles County. The owner, Joseph Chahayed, received $1 million from the California Lottery for selling it.

In February 2023 the California Lottery named the winner as Edwin Castro, as state disclosure rules require. He did not attend the announcement or give interviews, and he took the $997.6 million lump sum rather than annual payments. In a statement read on his behalf, he said the state's public schools were the real winners. The jackpot run raised about $156 million for them.

The odds of winning the Powerball jackpot are 1 in 292.2 million. Guinness World Records lists the prize as the largest single jackpot won in a national lottery.

Sources

• CBS Los Angeles: Edwin Castro announced as $2.04 billion Powerball jackpot winner (cbsnews.com)
• Fox Business: Powerball jackpot winner revealed in California (foxbusiness.com)
• NBC: $2 billion Powerball winner identified as Edwin Castro (nbcboston.com)
• CBS News: Minnesota Lottery says tech issue caused delay in $2 billion Powerball drawing (cbsnews.com)
• Guinness World Records: Greatest jackpot in a national lottery (guinnessworldrecords.com)