At a press conference in California on Tuesday, the California Lottery announced the sole winner of the record-breaking $2.04 billion Powerball jackpot from November.
Edwin Castro, who bought the winning ticket in Altadena, California, won the largest lottery jackpot ever and decided to receive the lump sum payment of $997.6 million.
Although Castro did not appear at the news conference, he shared a statement through a lottery spokesperson in which he expressed his shock and excitement at winning the drawing and announced that he was donating a significant portion of his winnings to the California Public School system.
“As much as I am shocked and ecstatic to have won the Powerball drawing, the real winner is the California Public School system,” Castro’s statement said.
As a result, California’s public schools will receive $156.3 million in supplemental funds, a record-breaking total that will be allocated based on average daily attendance records. The shop that sold the winning ticket, Joe’s Service Center, owned by Syrian immigrant Joe Chahayed, received a $1 million bonus from the lottery.
The odds of winning a Powerball jackpot are 1 in 292.2 million, according to the Multi-State Lottery Association.
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