$344 Million Powerball Winner Revealed to Be Laughing North Carolina Resident

On 1^st June, the lucky numbers for the Powerball draw worth $344m were drawn, but it has taken almost two weeks for the winner of that fortune to step forward. A 66-year old north-Carolina resident; Jackson Jr, came forward to claim his prize money and revealed that he thought he’d only won $50,000. A while after the draw, the retired store owner discovered he had only gone and won the whole pot of $344 million – the largest sum of money ever won on a single ticket.

But it wasn’t all eyes on the prize winner at the check-handing over ceremony. Jackson Jr stood before the cameras ready to answer questions on his new found wealth, when all of a sudden, he burst into laughter. Behind the Powerball winner stood a young woman in a Powerball outfit, dancing as he spoke which captured everyone’s attention – and not only those in the room. Twitter users couldn’t get enough of her waving her hands and dancing in celebration. “Female employee of the year” one Twitter user joked. Another tweeted; “The girl in the background waving her inflated hands is hilarious!” Not long after this, a third response came in; “I wanna know what’s going through the mind of that woman in the background”

 “This is an amazing ad for the NC Powerball. I must have watched it all the way thru like 6 times. I have no idea what the man in the video looks or sounds like. ‘Keep waving your hands and smiling like you don’t regret your life choices!!!'” another Twitter user joked.

Hidden Fortune

Amid all the smiles and laughter, Jackson Jr spoke about how he won, stating he found the numbers the back of the piece of paper inside a fortune cookie. It was given to him by his granddaughter, according to CNBC – naturally, he never expected much to come of the choice. “You play to win, but you never really expect to win the whole dang pot,” Jackson Jr. said.

When he realized he had won the huge sum of $344 million, he called his wife and told her “You ain’t going to believe this — I got it all.”

According to CNBC, Jackson Jr has decided to take the cash lump sum, which will mean he loses almost $121m in taxes, but he still takes home a hefty sum of $223.3 million. Financial experts often advise lottery winners to opt for the cash lump sum route as opposed to the multi-year annuity payments option. Once they’ve collected the cash, it should be invested wisely to make it last – but however he decides to spend it, $233.3 million is sure to last a hell of a long time! The Powerball winner insists the win won’t change him; “It probably won’t change much,” he said. “I mean, let me put it this way, I will still wear jeans. But I will probably buy some new ones.”