Top 15 Biggest Lottery Wins of All Time

Here's a countdown of the fifteen biggest lottery wins from drawings held around the world since the turn of the millennium. It's a hit parade of sheer, spectacular luck. Let's start from the smallest.

#15. 2008 win - $254 million

Getting rich out of nowhere feels good at any age — especially when nothing about your situation suggested it was coming — and even more so at 84. That's exactly what happened to a retiree from Missouri. No bank heist, no card tables, no roulette wheel. He simply bought a lottery ticket. And, wouldn't you know it — lady luck smiled on him, to the tune of $254 million. The lucky man's name was James Wilson. True to his generous nature, he split the prize among his sons, who badly needed the money since they were out of work at the time.

#14. 2002 win - $314.9 million

Jack Whittaker of West Virginia gave himself quite the Christmas present, taking home a massive win of over $300 million. Unfortunately, the money didn't do him much good. Whittaker was robbed twice. And he had his own share of trouble too: police found the body of a young man who had died of a drug overdose in his home. Whittaker's wife later said the win had thrown their whole life into chaos, and that they'd have been better off without that particular stroke of fortune. It's a reminder that sudden money demands real caution — maybe a portion given to charity would have made all the difference.

#13. 2005 win - $340 million

An ordinary American named Steve West decided one day to play Powerball. And wouldn't you know it — a massive win practically fell out of the sky, worth millions of dollars! The game works by having each player guess a set of numbers; get them all right, and you win. The charm of this particular story is that Steve picked his numbers completely at random, and hit the jackpot anyway.

#12. 2000 win - $363 million

On a warm May day, the top prize in the famous Mega Millions lottery climbed to $363 million. At the time, that was the biggest jackpot in the history of the lottery business. Two players won — residents of Michigan and Illinois. They both chose the lump-sum payout, and after taxes each walked away with $90 million. One of the winners had barely ever played the lottery before. While buying fast food one day, he offered the cashier a large bill instead of the two dollars he owed. She didn't have change, so instead he ended up buying 98 lottery tickets. He wasn't exactly thrilled about it at the time — but look how that turned out!

#11. 2006's biggest win - $365 million

In one drawing, Powerball put up $365 million. The winners turned out to be a group of meatpacking plant workers who'd formed a small syndicate — or pool — just for fun. And just like that, a win! That's what teamwork can do.

#10. 2007 win - $390 million

In March 2007, the organizers of the famous Mega Millions lottery promised their players a massive cash prize — and delivered. No shortage of hopefuls chasing several hundred million dollars; tickets flew off the shelves across the whole country. The drawing took place on the night of March 7 into March 8, and two winners emerged from the huge pool of entries, splitting the jackpot fairly between them.

#9. 2014 win - $425 million

This California retiree, Raymond Buxton, waited an entire month before finally coming to collect his hard-won prize. Why the delay? Buxton has a well-known sense of humor. He deliberately waited until April Fools' Day to show up at lottery headquarters — wearing a Star Wars T-shirt that read "May the Force be with me." Buxton was thrilled, and summed up his reaction in one word: "Unbelievable!"

#8. 2013 win - $488 million

This substantial win was split among three winning tickets from different cities. One was bought in Ham Lake, Minnesota; the other two in New Jersey. The Minnesota winner was a man named Paul White; in New Jersey, the prize went to a group of 16 co-workers and a solo winner named Mario Scarnici. Each winning ticket was worth $86 million before taxes.

#7. 2012 win - $587 million

This enormous prize was split two ways: one half went to Matthew Good of Arizona, the other to a married couple, Mark and Cindy Hill, from Missouri. Each share came to $192 million after taxes.

#6. 2013's biggest win - $590 million

This remarkable jaw-dropping win went to a single ticket holder, making it the largest single-winner jackpot in lottery history at the time! The lucky winner was Gloria MacKenzie of Florida. Her prize topped half a billion dollars. Now that's what you'd call staggering, once-in-a-lifetime luck.

#5. 2012's biggest win - $640 million

This prize was claimed in a Mega Millions drawing by winners from three different cities in three different states. The massive jackpot came to $640 million — a sum that's genuinely hard to wrap your head around. Each of the lucky winners took home $213 million.

#4. 2017 win - $758 million

On August 23, 2017, a single Powerball ticket took the entire jackpot! Mavis Wanczyk, a nurse at a Massachusetts medical center, became the sole winner of a jaw-dropping $758.7 million prize!

#3. 2019 win - $768 million

This particular Powerball drawing happened fairly recently — March 27, 2019 — so at the time of writing, no details about the winner had yet emerged.

#2. 2018 win - $1.537 billion

The second-largest jackpot ever came from a Mega Millions drawing, worth $1.537 billion. The winner, a resident of South Carolina, chose to remain anonymous. All that's known is that the drawing took place in late October 2018, and for four months nobody came forward to claim the prize. It wasn't until late February 2019 that a representative for the winner — attorney Jason Kurland — showed up at the lottery's offices to collect it.

#1. 2016 win - $1.586 billion

Three lucky winners split the mind-boggling jackpot in this Powerball drawing — the biggest in lottery history. The winners hailed from California, Florida, and Tennessee. Each of them walked away with a staggering $528 million. Talk about luck…