ECONOMY & WORK
MONEY 101
NEWS
PERSONAL FINANCE
NET WORTH
About Us Contact Us Privacy Policy Terms of Use DMCA Opt-out of personalized ads
© Copyright 2023 Market Realist. Market Realist is a registered trademark. All Rights Reserved. People may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.
MARKETREALIST.COM / ECONOMY & WORK

Oregon man's visit to a grocery store made him richer than billionaire Taylor Swift overnight

The singing superstar had joined the Forbes billionaires list following the huge success of her Eras tour
UPDATED AUG 18, 2024
Cover Image Source: Powerball and Mega Millions lottery tickets | Getty Images | Photo by Justin Sullivan
Cover Image Source: Powerball and Mega Millions lottery tickets | Getty Images | Photo by Justin Sullivan

Surpassing Taylor Swift's net worth became a reality for a lottery winner from Oregon, who came forward to claim a $1.3 billion jackpot (£1.049 billion) in April. The winner became richer than the singing sensation in just one day. The superstar joined the Forbes billionaires list the same month following the huge success of her Eras tour, and music sales. 

The lottery winner, who chose to remain anonymous due to security reasons, matched all the numbers and became a millionaire overnight. According to reports, the winning ticket was bought at a Plaid Pantry convenience store in north-east Oregon. The store is said to have received a cool $100,000 for selling the winning ticket.

Lottery director Mike Wells at the time said, "This is an unprecedented jackpot win for Oregon Lottery. We’re taking every precaution to verify the winner before awarding the prize money."

Powerball tickets await players | Getty Images | Photo by William Thomas Cain
Powerball tickets await players | Getty Images | Photo by William Thomas Cain

Plaid Pantry President and CEO Jonathan Polonsky said, "Plaid Pantry is thrilled to learn that one of our 104 Oregon stores sold the $1.3 billion dollar Powerball ticket. This store is one of our newest and most loved stores. Proceeds from the Oregon Lottery fund many programs that benefit everyone in the state, and we’ve been a proud partner with the Oregon Lottery since the very beginning. Congratulations to our lucky customer from our over 700 Plaid associates!"



 

The jackpot has a cash value of $621million (£490million) if the winner chooses to take a lump sum rather than an annuity paid over 30 years, with an immediate payout followed by 29 annual installments, as per reports. In the US, when you win a lottery you have to option to receive your winnings in one go or in installments typically spread over 29 years.

If you choose to take the lump sum, then you will likely be pushed into the top tax bracket, which is 37%. Lottery agencies take 24% of all winnings over $5,000. This means if you win it above that, you will owe the difference between the withholding amount and the total tax.

Employees work relentlessly to make their incomes tax-free. Image Source: Pexels|Photo by Nataliya Vaitkevich
Pexels | Photo by Nataliya Vaitkevich

According to Madison Trust Company, the odds of winning a Powerball Grand prize are one in 292,201,338, and the odds of winning $1 million from Powerball are 1 in 11,688,053. As reported, the prize was the fourth largest Powerball jackpot in history and the eighth largest among US jackpot games, as per the Oregon Lottery.

The biggest was a $2.04 billion Powerball win which was won back in 2022 by Edwin Castro, who was the 1-in-292.2 million winner of the biggest lottery jackpot of all time.

However, Castro did not qualify as a billionaire and chose to receive his prize in a single reduced sum of $997.6 million. The winning ticket of the biggest Powerball jackpot in history was purchased at Joe’s Service Center in Altadena, California, and the store received a $1 million prize for selling the ticket.

MORE ON MARKET REALIST
Fans complained that Carey maybe getting too old to take all the physicality during celebrations.
3 hours ago
Everyone has their own preferences but few people ever talk about this stuff on national TV.
5 hours ago
Drew Carey cares about his co-workers but he also doesn't hesitate to laugh at their expense.
8 hours ago
It's a moment of happiness when someone gets a deal on the show but it doesn't always end well.
9 hours ago
The models on "The Price is Right" are usually quite adept at their jobs but mistakes happen.
1 day ago
The models on the show are usually nice to contestants but this was a confrontation.
1 day ago
Steve Harvey really got agitated in this moment and he made no attempt to hide his feelings.
1 day ago
Lancaster did regain her balance but she caused collateral damage to save herself from embarrassment.
1 day ago
The contestant didn't lose her enthusiasm despite the fall which is admirable.
1 day ago
Steve Harvey is a patient host but some things just get on his nerves and he makes it clear.
2 days ago
The veteran host could not control his laughter after realizing the prank his colleagues had pulled.
2 days ago
Few people expected those words to come from the new host of the popular game show.
2 days ago
The Price is Right has always seen emotional contestants but this moment was just epic.
3 days ago
Mark Cuban has a good eye for potentially successful businesses but this one was just special.
3 days ago
The veteran host usually makes fans laugh with his words and not his actions but this was epic.
3 days ago
This contestant sure had a lot of nerve to say what he did about the mother of his child on TV.
3 days ago
The Reddit user wasn't expecting a former contestant to share insights on cracking the puzzles.
4 days ago
It didn't turn out to be something serious but it was still a traumatic experience for the customer.
4 days ago
The veteran host is usually a sympathetic individual but this one was a hilariously freakish moment.
5 days ago
Costco might be one of the biggest supermarket chains but that's not going to save it from criticism.
5 days ago