The biggest wins in lottery history

When a billion-dollar jackpot is won somewhere in the world, the announced figure quickly makes the headlines. The amount the winner actually receives appears far more rarely, and the difference between the two often exceeds half.

This article goes through the largest prizes recorded so far and explains where this difference comes from. All the examples are lotteries from abroad, with their own payout and taxation rules, and their figures don't describe the prizes in Moldova.

The biggest prize in history

The record belongs to the American lottery Powerball. On 7 November 2022, a ticket bought in Altadena, California, won a jackpot announced at 2.04 billion dollars, the largest in the history of lotteries in the United States.

The prize was claimed on 14 February 2023, 3 months after the draw. The winner chose the lump-sum payment and collected 997.6 million dollars. Out of the 2.04 billion announced, then, under 1 billion remained, before any discussion of taxes.

The second-largest jackpot in the United States was won on 11 October 2023, also at Powerball and also on a single ticket, in Frazier Park, California. The announced value was 1.76 billion dollars, and the cash option, 774.1 million.

Why the announced amount isn't the amount received

In the United States, the jackpot is announced as an annuity, meaning the total amount the winner would receive if they accepted the installment payment. At Powerball, this means 30 payments over the course of 29 years, each 5% larger than the previous one.

The alternative is the lump-sum payment, which is worth roughly half the announced figure. The reason isn't a hidden fee, but the time value of money: an amount received now is worth more than the same amount received 29 years from now.

On top of this difference comes tax. Estimates from the American financial press show that a winner who chooses the lump-sum payment is left, after that year's tax return, with roughly a third of the announced jackpot.

In Europe, the situation is different. In France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the United Kingdom and Finland, as well as in Canada, Australia and New Zealand, prizes are paid in full and all at once, with no income tax. There, the announced figure is close to the one the winner receives.

The biggest prizes in Europe

The European record belongs to the Italian lottery SuperEnalotto. On 16 February 2023 a prize of 371,133,424 euros was won, the largest in the game's history.

The prize did not go to a single person, however. It was split between 90 winners, meaning roughly 4.1 million euros each, well below the headline figure.

The largest prize going to a single ticket at SuperEnalotto was 209,160,441 euros, on 13 August 2019, and the ticket was sold in a bar in Lodi.

When the prize is split

Splitting the prize isn't an exception, but a consequence of how a lottery works. If 2 or more players have the same winning combination, the prize is split between them equally.

The best-known example again comes from Powerball. On 13 January 2016 a jackpot of 1.586 billion dollars was won, at the time the largest in the world. There were 3 winning tickets, in California, Florida and Tennessee, and each was worth 528.8 million.

From this comes a practical observation too. Combinations based on birth dates, on simple sequences or on numbers considered popular are played by far more people, so, in the unlikely case that they come up, the prize has a higher chance of being split.

What these figures say about the odds

Large jackpots don't appear because lotteries become more generous, but because the prize rolls over from one draw to another when no one wins it. The smaller the probability, the more the amount accumulates.

The probabilities behind these records are the following:

Powerball: One chance in 292,201,338 for the top prize.

Mega Millions: One chance in 290,472,336, after the format change in April 2025.

SuperEnalotto: One chance in 622,614,630, one of the lowest in the world.

A classic 6 out of 49 lottery: One chance in 13,983,816.

The last line is read together with the first 3. A 6 out of 49 lottery awards smaller prizes, but far more often. The formats that produce billion-dollar jackpots are the ones where the top prize is won rarely, and that's precisely why the amount reaches so high.

Conclusion

The records in lottery history are read correctly only together with the payout rules. The announced amount isn't the amount received, the prize can be split between several winners, and the probabilities behind these jackpots are among the lowest in the field.

The lottery remains a form of entertainment, not a financial strategy, and these figures don't change the odds of an ordinary ticket. The National Lottery of Moldova operates within the state monopoly, with fixed probabilities and independent draws, and participation is permitted exclusively to people over 18 for sports betting and loto, and 21 for high-risk gambling. Play only with money you can afford to lose.