A Winner Has Officially Claimed The $1.5 Billion Mega Millions Jackpot In San Diego

A Winner Has Officially Claimed The $1.5 Billion Mega Millions Jackpot In San Diego

Someone has officially claimed the $1.5 billion Mega Millions jackpot.

On Monday, lottery officials announced a South Carolina resident had come forward to collect the $1.5 billion Mega Millions jackpot that started back in October. This jackpot is the largest jackpot payout to a single winner in U.S. history; the winner decided to remain anonymous.

In a statement, the lottery commission revealed the winner took the one-time payment cash-out option, which left them with nearly $878,000,000. This is the second largest jackpot in history; the first was won back in January 2016 with a $1.585 billion Powerball prize. The money was split between buyers in three states. 

“We are delighted that the winner is a South Carolinian and has come forward to claim this remarkable prize,” said Hogan Brown, the Commission’s Executive Director. “We respect the winner’s decision to remain anonymous, and we will honor the winner’s wishes.”

The commission said the winner “marvels at how every decision made that day brought the winner to the store, at that very moment” to buy the winning ticket. According to CNBC, the winner allowed another customer to buy a Mega Millions ticket before him or her.