Friday’s Mega Millions jackpot has grown to about $1.28 billion, according to the game’s website — and would be the second largest in the game’s 20-year history and the third largest of any US lottery game. Friday’s jackpot cash value selection is $742.2 million. The draw is at 11pm. ET at the WSB-TV studio in Atlanta. The record Mega Millions jackpot is $1.537 billion, won on a single ticket sold in South Carolina in 2018. This is the second largest jackpot for any US lottery game, although it is the world’s largest lottery prize won with just one ticket, according to Mega Millions . The largest jackpot of any U.S. lottery game was $1.586 billion — a Powerball prize from Jan. 13, 2016, shared by winners in California, Florida and Tennessee. Timothy Schultz, who won a $28 million Powerball jackpot in 1999 and now hosts a lottery podcast, told CNN that winning can “really turn your life around.” He said after checking his numbers in the paper and realizing he had won, some of the first calls he made were to lawyers and financial advisers. “It can change almost everything, your relationships, your ability to live a life,” he said. “I think it can buy time, which can be invaluable. And, you know, it’s one of the most surreal, life-changing things that can happen to someone.” He said working with a financial advisor will benefit people who don’t have experience with millions because an advisor will help winners figure out what they can realistically do with the winnings. Schultz said he didn’t consider himself materialistic before he won, so his most extravagant purchases were a few cars and real estate. “I’ve found for myself and a lot of people I’ve met and interviewed that winning the lottery magnifies, or at least can magnify, your personality. It doesn’t necessarily change who you are.” he said. He said while he rarely plays the lottery these days, he bought a ticket for Friday night’s drawing. Mega Millions jackpots start at $20 million for the annual prize and increase based on game sales and interest rates on 30-year US Treasuries. The odds of winning the jackpot are 1 in 302,575,350. There are seven other less valuable prizes that depend on the number and type of balls a ticket matches. The odds of winning a second $1 million prize — if a ticket matches five white balls but not the Mega Millions ball — are 1 in 12,607,306. Mega Millions tickets are sold in 45 states, Washington DC and the US Virgin Islands, with drawings on Tuesdays and Fridays. Tickets are sold online in Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan, New Hampshire, North Carolina, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, Virginia and DC, but the buyer must be located in that state. CNN’s Jamiel Lynch contributed to this report.
