What would you do if you won a 1. 586 billion lottery prize. It's been almost a decade since Powerball and Mega Millions lottery games first reached 1 billion.
What would you do if you won a 1.586 billion lottery prize? It's been almost a decade since Powerball and Mega Millions lottery games first reached 1 billion. Over the years the jackpots crossed the elusive billion-dollar mark a whopping 14 times. Only once has a lottery jackpot surpassed 2 billion on Feb. 14 2023 or Valentine's Day Edwin Castro of Altadena California claimed the epic 2.04 billion Powerball win from the Nov. 7 2022 Powerball drawing for 1.9 billion (final ticket sales pushed the total past 2 billion). Though a few Powerball and Mega Millions lottery streaks came close to shattering that record including the recent 2025 Christmas Eve Powerball for 1.817 billion the 2.04 billion windfall remains the largest lottery prize in U.S. history. 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). For the first time a lottery jackpot reached 1 billion on Jan. 13 2016 three winners claimed the Powerball prize 1.586 billion split three ways between Maureen Smith and David Kaltschmidt had purchased their Powerball ticket near their home at a Publix grocery store in Melbourne Beach Florida. According to FLORIDA TODAY Kaltschmidt worked as a manufacturing engineer at Northrop Grumman and in 2016 said he would retire. Smith had referred to herself as a homemaker. The duo claimed their prize as the Nickel 95 Trust and indicated the moniker had special meaning to them though they declined to say why. The couple had moved to the Melbourne Beach area in 1991 from Long Island New York. Smith said she played the winning numbers of 4-8-19-27-34 with a Powerball of 10 for many years but she did not play the lottery itself that often. Those numbers she said did not have a special significance. I've been playing them for so many years I really don't remember she said. Kaltschmidt said he woke up on the morning of Jan. 14 and found the lottery sheet with the combination without any circles on it which in their parlance would indicate missed numbers. Oddly enough I checked the ticket and everything matched up so I said she's messing with me he joked. The Powerball generated more than 114 million for schools in the state of Florida. And Publix 3830 State Road A1A Melbourne Beach Florida received 100 000 for selling the winning ticket. Sangalang is a lead digital producer for USA TODAY Network. Follow her on Twitter or Instagram at byjensangalang. Support local journalism. Subscribe to the free Florida TODAY newsletter