TAMPA, Fla. — People living in the Florida area will want to double-check their Mega Million lottery tickets because someone who bought a ticket in the state is an instant billionaire.
The Florida Lottery identified the Publix grocery store at 630 Atlantic Boulevard in Neptune Beach as the location that sold the winning ticket for the August 8, 2023, drawing.
The winning numbers were 13, 19, 20, 32, 33, with 14 as the Mega Ball.
The winner can choose to have the $1.58 billion jackpot paid in 30 installments over 29 years or take a one-time lump sum of $783.3 million. The prize money is subject to federal taxes.
It was the largest jackpot in Mega Millions history and third highest in U.S. lottery history. It surpassed the $1.537 billion Mega Millions jackpot on October 2018. The jackpot had rolled over since it was last won in New York on April 18.
Per Florida law, the winner has 180 days from the date of the drawing to come forward to claim the prize, but only sixty days if they want the cash option.
There were a total of 540,589 winning tickets sold in Florida for Tuesday's drawing. One ticket sold in the state matched all five white numbers. It is worth $2 million because the person played the Megaplier option.
Eight tickets matched four numbers and the Mega Ball and are each worth at least $10,000.
The Mega Millions jackpot now resets to $20 million for Friday’s drawing. The deadline to buy tickets in Florida is 10:00 p.m. EST.
For more information, visit www.flalottery.com/megaMillions.
