What would you do if you won a 1. 586 billion Powerball prize. For one of the three winners from the Jan.
What would you do if you won a 1.586 billion Powerball prize? For one of the three winners from the Jan. 13 2016 drawing life as multimillionaires began on the Today show before their prize was officially claimed and ever since it's been fairly private. Here are things to know about the historic 1.586 billion Powerball jackpot and how one couple spent their prize money. Powerball made history Jan. 11 2016 the first time a lottery jackpot hit 1 billion. After no one matched all five numbers plus the Powerball in the (Saturday) Jan. 9 2016 drawing for 949 million the Monday jackpot soared to 1.4 billion. (No one won that drawing either.) Powerball made history again when three tickets matched all six numbers to win 1.586 billion in the (Wednesday) Jan. 13 2016 drawing. The jackpot started Nov. 4 2015 at 40 million. It had rolled over almost 30 times from Nov. 4 2015 to Jan. 13 2016 before three tickets from California Tennessee and Florida claimed the grand prize (see below). The winners were Marvin and Mae Acosta from California John and Lisa Robinson from Munford Tennessee and Maureen Smith and David Kaltschmidt from Melbourne Beach Florida. The winning numbers were 4-8-19-27-34 and Powerball 10. The historic 1.586 billion Powerball drawing occurred Wednesday Jan. 13 2016 and hours later lottery officials announced three tickets from three different states would split the prize. On Friday Jan. 15 2016 John Robinson and Lisa Robinson of Munford Tennessee appeared on NBCs Today show with Savannah Guthrie and Carson Daly claiming to have won the Powerball before they'd appeared in person at the Tennessee Lottery office. (Big-prize winners must appear in person at the official lottery headquarters in their state within a certain timeframe.) The Robinsons decided to contact Today to go public and then planned to stay as private as possible. Their lawyer had advised them to appear on national TV even before presenting the ticket to lottery officials as a way to control the story they said. The lawyer Joe Townsend and his daughter Ilene appeared on the Today show with the Robinsons. During the interview there was skepticism about the authenticity of the winning ticket. In the segment Guthrie introduced the Robinsons as the lucky couple who said they were holding the winning ticket. In the Today show interview (video above) a lower-third title card reads Tennessee couple claim Powerball win come forward to reveal winning ticket. Guthrie asks Can we see that ticket? Keeping it nice and close to your heart she says as John Robinson extracts the ticket from his shirt pocket. Guthrie explained that because the couple hadn't gone to the official lottery headquarters in their state they couldn't officially verify whether the Robinsons were actually winners. Producers verified their backgrounds but Guthrie made it clear that it's not official yet. She then asked the couple Why 'Today' show first? John Robinson then pointed to his lawyer Joe Townsend. So Guthrie asked him why. To which Townsend responded I think the American public wants to hear from them and even though they want to be private after this is over they want to you know let the public know that they're the winners. Guthrie reiterated several times in the interview that the Robinsons contacted the Today show It's kind of interesting how you found us we didn't find you you found us. John and Lisa Robinson of Munford Tennessee were the first to claim their share of the record 1.586 billion jackpot two days after the drawing and hours after appearing on the Today show with Savannah Guthrie and Carson Daly. They appeared with their daughter Tiffany and their rescue dog Abby on Jan. 15 2016 at the Tennessee Lottery headquarters. During the press conference that day the Robinsons asked the public for their privacy admitting they are common folk from a small town. John Robinson and Lisa Robinson took the lump sum a little more than 327 million before taxes though they posed with a giant 528.8 million check Tennessee Lottery officials said. They received a couple of million dollars immediately and about 10 days later they were to receive the remainder of the prize according to a 2016 USA TODAY story. The Robinsons bought their winning Powerball ticket at Naifeh's Food Market one of three lottery retailers in their hometown of 6 000 residents about 30 miles northeast of Memphis Tennessee. Although the couple had triple-checked their winning numbers John Robinson told news media that he wouldn't officially believe it until state lottery officials reported a winning ticket was purchased in Munford. By early Thursday Jan. 14 2016 state lottery officials announced that Naifeh's in Tennessee sold one of the three winning tickets. Ally Abby and Oney Naifeh took a selfie with their family's Tennessee lottery check that was presented at their family's store Naifeh's Food Mart that Thursday in Munford. The store received a 25 000 bonus for selling one of the three winning Powerball lottery tickets. In 2016 FLORIDA TODAY reported Maureen Smith and David Kaltschmidt bought their winning Powerball ticket at a Publix in Melbourne Beach Florida. The couple waited until February 2016 to claim their share of the grand prize. Six months after the drawing Marvin and Mae Acosta of California claimed their Powerball winnings of 528.8 million according to the California Lottery. Lottery winners in Tennessee cannot remain anonymous. A person's name home state and hometown are public record. Lisa Robinson who worked in a dermatologist's office had called her supervisor to say she would not be in Friday but to tune into the Today show on NBC with Savannah Guthrie and Carson Daly. At the time she said she and her husband had no plans to quit their jobs. The couple said one of their priorities was to pay off their daughter's student loans a home loan and several other bills. They also would like to splurge on family members. According to a 2019 story posted on Fox 13 Memphis' site a tax assessor confirmed the Robinsons bought a 10-bedroom home on a 320-acre lot with a private lake. The property cost them 6.2 million and it includes rural Tennessee's finest views a private home theater and eight bathrooms according to the property's listing on Trulia (a real estate site). Fox 13 reported the Robinsons cut ties with the attorney that encouraged them to thrust their earnings into the public eye shortly after collecting the check. Though Fox 13 visited the family's home in Munford Tennessee the TV station did not disclose the specific location of the multimillion-dollar home out of respect for the family's request for privacy. Contributing Natalie Neysa Alund The Tennesseean; Doug Stanglin USA TODAY; The Associated Press Sangalang is a lead digital producer for the USA TODAY Network. Follow her on Twitter or Instagram at byjensangalang. Support local journalism. Consider subscribing to a Florida newspaper