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Photo: Shiho Fukada/ AP
The jackpot for the next drawing of the US American lottery Mega Millions on Friday breaks the billion mark.
The company said it was valued at $1.025 billion.
This corresponds to a good 1.004 billion euros.
In the last 29 draws, nobody had six correct ones.
That's why the main prize has grown steadily.
After the last drawing, the website was overloaded due to the large number of visitors.
But the estimated jackpot isn't even the biggest in the company's history: it was $1.537 billion in 2018.
According to a report by the broadcaster CNBC, the winner initially remained anonymous.
In January 2021, $1.050 billion was in the pot, according to CNBC, a syndicate from a suburb of Detroit won it.
So it consisted of four people.
The chance of hitting the Mega Millions jackpot is about one in about 303 million.
According to data from the US agency CDC, it is significantly more likely to be struck by lightning, the chance is less than one in a million.
If you want to collect the entire amount, you not only need extreme luck, the person also has to be patient.
Because the billions only apply to the annuity option.
The profit is then paid out over 30 years.
Most want cash
However, most opt for the instant win.
In that case, the estimated jackpot is $602.5 million.
The person who won Mega Millions' biggest pot to date also opted for cash, according to CNBC.
The amount paid out was therefore not $1.5 billion, but $878.
After taxes, the total paid out was estimated at $491 million.
The largest lottery win in US history was $1.586 billion, a Powerball lottery pot.
Several players shared the prize in 2017, as there were three tickets with six correct numbers.
jpz/AFP/AP