Australia’s newest multi-millionaire has been found with a man from the Port Macquarie region revealed as the winner of last night’s entire $80 million Powerball jackpot.
The humble New South Welshmen, who bought his entry online, held the only division one winning entry in last night’s Powerball draw 1245, suddenly becoming the third biggest individual lottery winner in Australian history.
The man, who only recently retired, was oblivious to his new multi-millionaire status until he checked his email this morning to discover the shocking $80 million news.
“This is the best news I’ve ever received!” he exclaimed.
“You’ve got to be kidding me?
“I think I feel some tears coming on.
“With so much going on in the world right now. I’m feeling a bit overwhelmed!”
The Powerball winner revealed the win had come at a perfect time and he couldn’t wait to share his windfall with his family.
“This is huge for my family. We’ve been through a rough trot. We’ve been battling the drought for years and were affected by the bushfires earlier this year,” he said.
“This is just going to make my family’s life so much easier.”
While he said he would probably only really believe he was now a multi-millionaire when he saw his bank balance balloon, he was already planning one indulgence with his prize.
“I’ll be able to upgrade my TV! I’ve always wanted a satellite TV to get better stations!” he laughed.
The down-to-earth man shared he had been self-isolating like many across Australia, but that wouldn’t stop him celebrating the life-changing news.
“Actually, I’ve been socially isolating since I retired so I’m pretty good at it!” he laughed.
The man, who wishes to remain anonymous, purchased his entry online via OzLotteries.com – one of the Lott’s authorised resellers. Jumbo Interactive operates OzLotteries.com website and OzLotteries App selling official lottery tickets as an authorised reseller of Tabcorp. Jumbo Interactive is listed on the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX:JIN).
This is the first time an individual Australian has won an entire $80 million Powerball prize. Previous jackpots of this size have been shared by multiple winners.
In addition to last night’s $80 million division one prize, a total of 1,916,815 winners won more than $33.9 million in divisions two to nine. This included five division two winners, who each take home $188,293.35.
This is the second Powerball division one winner of the decade and the largest Powerball jackpot offered so far this year.
In 2019, 14 Powerball division one winners across Australia pocketed more than $541.87 million in prize money. Of these Powerball division one wins, five landed in New South Wales, four in Queensland, three in Victoria and two in South Australia.
The numbers drawn in Powerball draw 1245 on Thursday 26 March 2020 were 14, 21, 16, 12, 1, 29 and 27 and the Powerball number was 7.
The Lott’s division one winning tally across all Australian lottery games has now reached 271 so far this calendar year.
Last financial year, more than 131.8 million winners took home more than $3.3 billion in prize money from their favourite games at the Lott, including Saturday Lotto, Monday and Wednesday Lotto, Powerball, Oz Lotto, Set for Life, Lucky Lotteries, Keno, Super 66, Lotto Strike and Instant Scratch-Its.
In the 12 months to 30 June 2019, Australia’s Official Lotteries contributed more than $1.4 billion via state lottery taxes and donations to help community initiatives, such as hospitals, health research, disaster relief and education.
