A Tennessee couple did not have to worry about the sinking stock values on Wall Street Friday afternoon, because they showed the world one of three winning Powerball tickets.
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Appearing with his lawyer on the morning show, John said he was “scared” when he realized that he had the winning numbers.
Mr Townsend said: “The American public wants to hear from them… they want to let the public know that they’re the winners”. As far as attorney Townsend’s daughter’s involvement, Eileen happens to be a reporter in Memphis who was the one who got in touch with Today apparently by googling, “how do you call NBC”.
The 62-year-old was said to have been phoned at work by her son, who told her that she was among the winners in the record-breaking lottery. “Now we’re real grateful we got the big piece of the pie”. She is holding the winning ticket which was given by her boss, Shlomo Rechnitz, who bought 18,000 tickets for his employees and residents at 80 nursing homes across California. The three states with Powerball winners from Wednesday’s drawing – California, Florida and Tennessee – require winners to disclose their names, which is the policy of most states that play the game.
The couple told the TODAY Show that they plan to go to Tennessee lottery officials today. They also plan to give money to friends, their church and the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis.
John Robinson said he was nervous after revealing his identity on the “Today” show.
The prize is roughly $533 million if they choose the lump-sum payment, which is $327.8 million after taxes.
The law in Tennessee stipulates that the victor has to come in person with the ticket in their hand and identification of the person who bought it, which the Robinsons have not done yet.
John Robinson, left, brings in the family dog, Abby, as Robinson’s wife, Lisa, center, arrives for a news conference with Rebecca Hargrove, right, president and CEO of the Tennessee Lottery, Friday, Jan. 15, 2016, in Nashville, Tenn. Officials will even check store surveillance video from the time when the ticket was purchased.
Atwal received a United States dollars 1 million cheque as retailer bonus for selling the winning ticket.
“The Chino Hills victor has not come forward yet”, California Lottery said on its Twitter feed.
For those (still) playing at home, the winning numbers were 08, 27, 34, 04, 19 and Powerball 10.
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There have been several hoax claims following Wednesday’s drawing.
