John Robinson of Munford, a town of 6,000 north of Memphis, said he quickly reached out to his brother and others to assemble a team of lawyers and financial planners.
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After trying unsuccessfully to get her to come over, the couple jumped in their vehicle and drove over to tell her the good news.
The Robinsons said they came to the Today Show before claiming the prize because they know that America wants to hear about who won the jackpot.
“Who will be coming out of the woodwork?” said Mary Sue Smith.
“They were rightly a little suspicious”, Townsend said. “You know what happens”.
The potential ticket has not been verified by lottery officials, according to the national show. There were three winning tickets in Wednesday’s record-breaking drawing, sold in California, Tennessee and Florida. John Robinson, who works at a maintenance distribution center, told Today. The couple is in their middle 50s, neighbors said.
“I wrote the numbers down and I got to looking and I saw it and looked again”, she said.
“So we don’t do a lot for schools, it’s a modest contribution”, Lopez said.
The Robinsons and their daughter hung out on the “Today” show set after their interview.
“Big houses are nice”, her husband said, “But also you gotta clean ’em”. “I’m having a wonderful time here”.
Hollowell said she thought their chances were so slim – 1 in 292 million – that she went to bed Wednesday night without even looking at the winning numbers.
John Robinson and his wife Lisa bought four tickets at Naifeh’s Food Mart, a grocery store one block from their home in Munford, Tennessee, at 6:56 p.m. on Wednesday night.
“One of our family advocates had the bright idea to go in on some Powerball tickets”. They matched the first four numbers and the Powerball. “‘John, John, you’ve got to check these numbers!’ And I startled him because he was asleep on the couch”.
The family said they don’t plan to move, and they even went into work on Thursday.
“They each deserve this more than anyone will know”, said Kristy Lewis, Paducah Head Start director.
The couple revealed their plans to pay off their mortgage and their daughter’s college loans at a press conference, which their daughter, Tiffany, and their rescue dog, Abby, also attended. Look it up, I bought in chino hills where I grew up! NBC says they’ll receive roughly $327.8 million after taxes if they take the lump-sum payment.
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Robinson, alongside his wife, Lisa and daughter, Tiffany appeared on the show and told reporters the family had not yet alerted lottery officials.
