The New York Post reported yesterday a 56-year-old nurse at Park Avenue Health & Wellness Center in Pomona, California had won the Powerball jackpot.
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As of Friday morning, none of the winners have presented their winning numbers to the states where the tickets were sold. “I knew that I wanted to get an accountant”.
Lawyers who have represented other lottery winners advise against going public until they are ready to manage such a huge windfall.
The couple said they bought four tickets at Naifeh’s Food Mart – where one of the winning tickets was sold – in their hometown of Munford, which has a population of just under 6,000 people.
Can you believe this lottery victor didn’t run to the store and confirm that their ticket is worth one-third of a $1.5 billion jackpot?! My dad always said, “When I win the lottery'”.
Munford Mayor Dwayne Cole said Friday that he thinks John and Lisa Robinson are not the kind of family that will follow past lottery winners who have squandered their money quickly. There was one $100,000 victor and 17 $50,000 winners, lottery officials said.
The small-town Tennessee couple that bought one of three magic tickets splitting the world-record $1.6 billion Powerball jackpot says they don’t plan to quit their jobs or buy a new house. I’d suggest you get financial advice from someone you knew before you won.
The family flew to NY to reveal their good fortune on the TODAY Show Friday morning after their lawyer suggested they go public before getting the ticket verified.
When an incredulous news reporter asked why return to work, Lisa Robinson replied, “Why not?”
The announcement of the lottery winners came after the previous 19 draws produced no jackpot winners, and the grand prize rolled over each time.
“It was his idea”, said John Robinson motioning to his lawyer, Joe Townsend, who was also part of the interview.
It appears that the holders of the two other winning tickets are yet to be identified.
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John Robinson works as a warehouse supervisor and his wife is employed at a dermatologist’s office. The chances of winning were 1 in 292.2 million, which meant Powerball players had a far greater chance of being struck by lightning or dying in an asteroid strike than winning the whole thing. It was the largest lottery prize offered in North America and no other lottery in the world had ever featured a jackpot of that size that could be won on a single ticket.
