Frederic J. BROWN / AFP
One lucky Mega Millions player won an estimated $1.22 billion on Friday night, one of the largest jackpots in US history.
The winning ticket was sold at Sunshine Food and Gas in Cottonwood, northern California, the California State lottery said.
The winning numbers were 3, 7, 37, 49, and 55, and the gold Mega Ball number was 6. The winner's identity is unclear as of yet.
The winner will have the option of taking a roughly $549.7 million cash lump sum or the full jackpot paid out over 30 years.
It was the fifth-largest prize in Mega Millions history and the seventh Mega Millions jackpot to cross the $1 billion threshold.
"Congratulations to our $1.22 billion jackpot winner from California," Joshua Johnston, lead director for the Mega Millions Consortium, said in a press release. "What an amazing present this holiday season! At an incredibly special time of year, this is both an incredibly special moment for our winner, and for all the great organizations and causes that benefit from lottery ticket sales around the country."
The jackpot was claimed after a 31-drawing run that began on September 10, when the last jackpot was won.
The largest-ever US lottery jackpot was won in November 2022, when a man in California won the $2.04 billion Powerball. He was later named as Edwin castro.
Last year, another ticket sold in California won a $1.765 billion Powerball prize. The California Lottery said that a man called Theodorus Struyck had come forward as the representative of a group that would split the winnings.
The Mega Millions jackpot has now reset to $20 million ahead of the New Year's Eve draw.
The odds of winning the Mega Millions jackpot are about one in 302,575,350, according to the official website.
