Someone in Florida just won a $450 million jackpot. But you can win even more tonight
Someone on Florida’s west coast got a hot treat on a cool night when the winning numbers were drawn in the Mega Millions jackpot Friday night.
The numbers — 28-30-39-59-70 and a Mega Ball of 10 — had a $450 million booty.
And Saturday night’s Powerball drawing promises an even bigger grand prize, with $570 million on the line for a lucky winner.
The winning Mega Millions ticket in Friday’s drawing was purchased at a 7-Eleven located at 7131 Ridge Rd. in Port Richey. The yet-to-be-named winner isn’t the only one to get a windfall. Just for selling the Quick Pick ticket, the retailer receives a $100,000 bonus commission.
This was the fourth-largest Mega Millions pot the national lottery game has ever seen. It had been steadily climbing since Oct. 13 — the last time someone won.
While $450 million is a lot of dough, it won’t put you on Forbes’ 400 richest people list (you need at least $2 billion to rank at No. 400).
But if you had that money in hand in November, you could have bought yourself a 600-year-old Leonardo Da Vinci painting at Christie’s auction house. That’s what someone paid for Da Vinci’s poster-sized “Salvator Mundi” — which features Jesus Christ holding a crystal orb — fetched in the sale.
Still, at $450 million, you’re instantly nearly twice as rich as rock stars like Don Henley, Rod Stewart and Phil Collins and on par with Jimmy Buffett and Elton John — but still behind Bono and Paul McCartney, the sole musician to top $1 billion in net worth, according to a list compiled by Gazette Review.
Now, hurry, whoever you are. The jackpot winner has 180 days from the date of the drawing to claim the prize. But if the lucky person wants to take it as a one-time, lump-sum cash payment — $281.2 million — the claim must be filed within 60 days after the winning draw date.
The next Mega Millions drawing will be held at 11 p.m. Tuesday for a mere $40 million jackpot.
And someone, maybe even in Florida, can trump the Mega Millions winner, as Saturday night’s other national lottery game, Powerball, has a drawing worth $570 million.
Your odds: one in 292,201,338. Bet the lines are long at area 7-Elevens and Publix supermarkets for the $2 tickets.
Howard Cohen: 305-376-3619, @HowardCohen
This story was originally published January 6, 2018 at 10:16 AM with the headline "Someone in Florida just won a $450 million jackpot. But you can win even more tonight."