Single Ticket Wins $1.269B Mega Millions Jackpot, Ninth-Richest in U.S. History

A single ticket matched last night s Mega Millions drawing to claim the ninth-richest jackpot in the history of the United States.

The $1.269 billion annuitized jackpot marks the fifth-richest Mega Millions prize ever won. The Mega Millions Consortium, which operates the interstate lottery game on behalf of its 45 member participating states, plus Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands, reports that the lucky play was sold in California.

The ticket that matched the Friday night numbers 3, 7, 37, 49, and 55, plus the gold Mega Ball 6, was sold in Cottonwood at the Circle K Sunshine Food and Gas convenience store along Rhonda Rd. Cottonwood, a former stagecoach town roughly 125 air miles north of Sacramento, is located in Northern California s Shasta County.

Congratulations to our $1.269 billion jackpot winner from California. What an amazing present this holiday season, said Joshua Johnston, lead director for the Mega Millions Consortium.

At an incredibly , this is both an incredibly special moment for our winner and all the great organizations and causes that benefit from lottery ticket sales around the country, Johnston continued. Thank you to everyone who plays. Because of you, we have winners all around the country taking home cash prizes both big and small, and we have educational causes, parks, and many other great organizations benefiting as well.

The winner has one year to come forward. California does not allow lottery winners to remain anonymous.

The lucky winner will have the option of choosing the full value of the $1.269 billion paid out over 30 years or the one-time cash option of $571.9 million. Both amounts were increased from the pre-draw estimate of on stronger-than-expected sales.

The $1.269 billion annuity and $571.9 million cash are before federal taxes. California does not consider lottery winnings as taxable income.

Since most Mega Millions and Powerball jackpot winners take the cash, let s break it down assuming that trend continues. If the winner opts for the one-time payout, the $571.9 million will be reduced to approximately $360.3 million after an effective federal tax of 37%.

In June, that lottery players in California, New York, and are the luckiest players when it comes to Mega Millions and Powerball. Those three states lead in terms of the number of jackpots won since 2017.

That shouldn t be much of a surprise, as California is the most populated state in the country and has one of the most robust lottery programs.

California, we ve done it again! One lucky ticket sold at Circle K Stores on Rhonda Rd. in Cottonwood was the sole ticket across the nation to match all six numbers in tonight s (Dec. 27) Mega Millions drawing! the California Lottery posted on its social media channels.

Shasta County s Cottonwood is perhaps best known for being where actor-comedian Chris Farley filmed his final film.

The 1998 movie Almost Heroes, an adventure comedy western that was met with negative reviews, was primarily filmed in Cottonwood. Farley starred alongside Matthew Perry, who like the former SNL star died of a drug overdose. 

Shasta County is perhaps best known for being where the soft drink manufacturer originated. Shasta County is named after nearby Mount Shasta.