💰 The Largest Lottery Jackpots Ever Won in World History
Lottery jackpots have reached extraordinary levels, with the largest prizes exceeding one billion dollars and attracting enormous international attention. This ranking presents the ten biggest advertised jackpots won in draw-based lottery history through August 2026. Every entry comes from Powerball or Mega Millions, the two American games responsible for the largest accumulated prizes.
The advertised amounts represent annuity values paid over several decades. Winners may instead select a substantially lower lump-sum cash option, and both forms of payment are generally subject to federal and potentially state taxes.
🎰 How Record-Breaking Lottery Jackpots Accumulate
Powerball and Mega Millions jackpots roll over whenever no ticket matches all the required numbers. Repeated rollovers encourage additional ticket sales, placing more money into the prize pool and allowing the advertised jackpot to grow at an increasingly rapid pace.
American jackpots are advertised using the estimated value of a long-term annuity rather than the immediate cash available on the drawing date. Interest rates therefore affect the headline amount, while the lump-sum option more closely reflects the money held in the jackpot prize pool.
1. 🇺🇸 $2.04 Billion Powerball Jackpot – California, November 2022
The largest lottery jackpot in history was won by a single Powerball ticket purchased at Joe’s Service Center in Altadena, California. The ticket matched 10, 33, 41, 47 and 56 plus Powerball 10 in the delayed drawing held on November 7, 2022, ending a remarkable sequence of 41 drawings without a jackpot winner.
The winner, later identified as Edwin Castro, selected the one-time cash payment of $997.6 million before taxes instead of the full annuity. The record-breaking run generated exceptional nationwide sales and provided approximately $156.3 million for California public schools, setting another record for one Powerball cycle.
2. 🇺🇸 $1.817 Billion Powerball Jackpot – Arkansas, December 2025
A single Quick Pick ticket sold at a Murphy USA store in Cabot, Arkansas, captured the $1.817 billion Powerball jackpot on Christmas Eve 2025. Its numbers were 4, 25, 31, 52 and 59 with Powerball 19, concluding a game-record series of 47 consecutive drawings without a grand-prize winner.
The anonymous Arkansas winner chose the immediate cash option of $834.9 million before federal and state taxes. It was the largest lottery prize ever won in Arkansas and the second-biggest jackpot in both Powerball and global lottery history, trailing only California’s historic $2.04 billion result.
3. 🇺🇸 $1.787 Billion Powerball Jackpot – Missouri and Texas, September 2025
Two tickets purchased in Missouri and Texas shared a Powerball jackpot worth $1.787 billion on September 6, 2025. Both entries matched the five white balls—11, 23, 44, 61 and 62—along with Powerball 17, bringing another lengthy run of drawings without a complete match to an end.
The advertised jackpot was divided equally, giving each winning ticket an annuity share valued at approximately $893.5 million. Although it ranks as the third-largest accumulated jackpot ever awarded, it is not the third-largest individual prize because the total was split between two separate ticket holders.
4. 🇺🇸 $1.765 Billion Powerball Jackpot – California, October 2023
A single ticket sold at Midway Market & Liquor in Frazier Park, California, won the $1.765 billion Powerball jackpot on October 11, 2023. The winning combination consisted of 22, 24, 40, 52 and 64 plus Powerball 10, ending 35 successive drawings without a jackpot winner.
The grand prize carried an immediate cash value of $774.1 million before taxes, while the advertised amount reflected the long-term annuity. A group represented by Theodorus Struyck was announced as the winner, and the small retailer that sold the ticket received a $1 million bonus from the California Lottery.
5. 🇺🇸 $1.602 Billion Mega Millions Jackpot – Florida, August 2023
Mega Millions established its current game record when one ticket sold at a Publix supermarket in Neptune Beach, Florida, won $1.602 billion on August 8, 2023. The entry matched 13, 19, 20, 32 and 33 plus Mega Ball 14 after the jackpot had rolled through 31 drawings.
The prize had an announced cash option of approximately $794.2 million before taxes. It surpassed the previous Mega Millions record of $1.537 billion and remains the largest jackpot in that lottery’s history, as well as one of the largest prizes ever captured by a single ticket.
6. 🇺🇸 $1.586 Billion Powerball Jackpot – California, Florida and Tennessee, January 2016
Powerball crossed the billion-dollar threshold for the first time on January 13, 2016, when three tickets shared a $1.586 billion jackpot. The winning entries were purchased in California, Florida and Tennessee and matched 4, 8, 19, 27 and 34 together with Powerball 10.
Each ticket received an annuity share worth approximately $528.8 million, with cash alternatives of about $327.8 million available before taxes. The historic jackpot remained the world record until 2022 and demonstrated how changes to Powerball’s number matrix could produce longer rollover cycles and much larger prizes.
7. 🇺🇸 $1.537 Billion Mega Millions Jackpot – South Carolina, October 2018
One Mega Millions ticket purchased at KC Mart in Simpsonville, South Carolina, matched all six numbers on October 23, 2018. The successful combination was 5, 28, 62, 65 and 70 plus Mega Ball 5, producing the first billion-dollar jackpot in the history of the game.
The winner remained anonymous under South Carolina law and selected a one-time payment of $877,784,124 before taxes. At the time, it was the largest lottery jackpot won by a single ticket, and its cash payout remains among the biggest immediate lottery payments ever awarded to one claimant.
8. 🇺🇸 $1.35 Billion Mega Millions Jackpot – Maine, January 2023
A ticket purchased at Hometown Gas & Grill in Lebanon, Maine, won a $1.35 billion Mega Millions jackpot on Friday, January 13, 2023. It matched 30, 43, 45, 46 and 61 plus Mega Ball 14, overcoming the supposedly unlucky date and securing Maine’s first Mega Millions jackpot.
The prize offered a cash option of approximately $724.6 million before taxes and was claimed through the LaKoma Island Investments trust. It remains the largest lottery prize ever awarded in Maine and became the fourth Mega Millions jackpot to cross the symbolic one-billion-dollar mark.
9. 🇺🇸 $1.337 Billion Mega Millions Jackpot – Illinois, July 2022
A single ticket sold at a Speedway convenience store in Des Plaines, Illinois, captured the $1.337 billion Mega Millions jackpot on July 29, 2022. The winning numbers were 13, 36, 45, 57 and 67 with Mega Ball 14, concluding a jackpot run that had lasted for 29 drawings.
Two people who had agreed to share the ticket claimed the prize anonymously and selected a lump-sum payment of approximately $780.5 million before taxes. The win remains the largest lottery prize in Illinois history and gave the retailer a selling bonus of $500,000.
10. 🇺🇸 $1.326 Billion Powerball Jackpot – Oregon, April 2024
A Powerball ticket sold at Plaid Pantry in Portland, Oregon, won a $1.326 billion jackpot in the drawing completed on April 7, 2024. The ticket matched 22, 27, 44, 52 and 69 plus Powerball 9, ending a run of more than three months without a jackpot winner.
Cheng Saephan, his wife Duanpen and their friend Laiza Chao shared the prize and chose a cash payment of approximately $621 million before taxes. Saephan, who had been receiving cancer treatment, said the money would provide security for his family and allow him to find better medical care.
All ten record jackpots were produced in the United States, where Powerball and Mega Millions combine enormous ticket sales with rules designed to create extended rollover sequences.
Powerball occupies six places in the ranking, including the four largest jackpots, while Mega Millions accounts for the remaining four. Eight of the ten jackpots were won by a single ticket, whereas the prizes from September 2025 and January 2016 were divided among multiple winning entries.
Because the ranking uses advertised annuity values, these figures should not be confused with the substantially smaller cash options actually selected by most winners. Future rollover runs may surpass these records as participation, interest rates and lottery rules continue to change.
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