The Biggest Lottery Prize Winners Ever

Everyone dreams of winning it big at the lotto, but most of us know that the chances of making it big are slim to none. Of course, someone has to win those jackpots, right? Not even the largest jackpots are safe, with so many excited lotto players waiting to strike it rich. If you’re wondering about the massive lotto, here’s a look at some of those people who were lucky enough to enjoy some of the biggest lottery wins in history.

Biggest lottery trivia

Q: Who has won the biggest lottery ever?

A: That depends on the criteria. The biggest single winner of any lottery is an anonymous winner from North Carolina, USA. This lucky winner landed the biggest single-ticket jackpot in the world — a whopping US$1.537 billion. That’s a nice sum, even after taxes.

Q: Can foreigners win Australian lotteries?

A: Many huge lotteries now cater to a wide range of clients, both at home and abroad, making it possible for foreigners to win the lottery. Whether someone is visiting Australia or playing the game from abroad, the international aspect of Australian lotteries helps increase the excitement and experience for everyone.

It’s important to note that lottery winners who are not residents of the country they’ve won in must report their winnings to their local tax authority.

Q: Is it easy to win the lotto online in Australia?

A: Australian lotto winners can absolutely come from online games. In fact, playing lotto online is easier, in that you’re alerted right away if you win and you don’t lose your results. The odds of winning lotto online are just the same as the odds if you play lotto at a physical location, and they can vary from game to game and with other factors.

Playing lotto online also has the additional benefit of making it easy to learn more about lotto games, prizes and previous lotto winners so that you can feel better prepared the next time you’re filling out your ticket.

Near and far: Biggest lottery wins around the world

2019: US$1.537 billion in USA MegaMillions

Ever wonder who’s won the largest single-ticket jackpot? That would be an anonymous winner from North Carolina in the United States who matched all the numbers correctly playing Mega Millions and scored the jackpot of over 1.5 billion dollars. Even after the reductions from choosing the lump sum option and paying taxes, this winner still took home US$491.7 million (AU$647.6 million) at the end of the day.

2019: AU$107 million in Australian Powerball

One of the most amazing single-ticket Australian lottery winners went to a 40-year-old Sydney mum and healthcare worker. She took home a staggering AU$107 million, winning not only the 100 million jackpot but an extra 7 million dollars in additional prizes — thanks to the huge number of tickets she had purchased.

Despite her newfound wealth, this lotto winner still aims to work her healthcare job to continue spreading good cheer and healing to those who need it.

2017: US$758.7 million in USA Powerball

One of the biggest single lottery wins on record belongs to a Massachusetts, USA resident named Mavis Wanczyk, who won the Powerball lottery worth over US$758 million (AU$997 million). After choosing the lump sum payment option and paying taxes on the winnings, Ms Wanczyk walked home with approximately US$336 million (AU$442 million).

2019: €209 million in the SuperEnalotto

The largest single-ticket jackpot win in the history of Italy’s SuperEnalotto not only broke this lottery’s previous record of €177 million (AU$278 million) but surpassed the highest EuroMillion jackpot as well. The €209 million win translates into roughly AU$328 million.

2016: US$1.586 billion in USA Powerball

Speaking of Powerball, the US version currently boasts the record for the world’s largest jackpot — a whopping US$1.586 billion (AU$2.09 billion) that was split between three winning tickets. Each ticket holder took home approximately US$300 million (AU$395 million).

2019: €190 million in UK’s EuroMillions

The unknown winners of this jackpot have made history as the UK’s biggest winner ever by taking home over £170 million (AU$310 million) and displacing Scottish couple Colin and Chris Weir (the previous jackpot record-holders from 2011) for the title of biggest EuroMillions winner.

2019: AU$150 million in Australian Powerball

Australian Powerball offers some mind-boggling jackpots, which make Powerball winners all the happier to play! And, of course, if we’re discussing the biggest lottery wins, we must mention the record AU$150 million jackpot split between three Australian lottery winners in September of 2019.

Yearly: €2.4 billion in The Spanish Christmas Lottery

When it comes to the overall prize pool, no lottery has yet matched Loteria de Navidad’s prize pool of €2.4 billion (AU$3.78 billion). The jackpot varies from year to year but is generally around €4 million (AU$6.29 million).