The Mega Millions jackpot was finally won on Friday as a player scooped $1.34bn, earning an Illinois Lottery retailer a $500,000 cash bonus in the process.
Rolling since April 16, the jackpot had breached the $1bn mark for just the third time in its 20-year history.
Such a figure promoted a significant surge in ticket sales, with one state reporting tickets were being sold at a rate of 1,800 a minute.
But the jackpot run finally came to a conclusion last week on its 30th draw, culminating in a ‘historic’ triumph for an Illinois Lottery player.
“This is the largest lottery prize ever won in Illinois, and the second largest Mega Millions prize ever won,” said Illinois Lottery Director Harold Mays.
“We have not heard from the winner yet. We don’t know whether or not they’re aware they’ve won this incredible prize. So we’re telling all of our players – check your tickets.
“Millions of people across the country had tickets for the draw. We’re thrilled that an Illinois Lottery player won this prize, and that one of our local retailers sold the winning ticket – meaning they get a cash bonus of $500,000.”
The winning ticket was purchased at the Speedway at 885 E Touhy Ave, Des Plaines, IL 60018.
The Illinois Lottery has encouraged the winner to sign the back of the ticket and seek professional and legal advice before making an appointment with the Illinois Lottery to claim their prize.
The winner has 12 months from the date of the draw to claim their prize, but they only have 60 days from the date of the draw to choose the cash option or annual payments.
Excluding the jackpot, in total, over 390,000 Illinois Lottery players won prizes totalling more than $2.5m.
