A 24-year-old from West Allis, a Milwaukee Suburb, came forward yesterday (April 23rd) to claim a $768 million Powerball jackpot, the third-largest lottery jackpot in U.S. history, from the March 27th drawing. Manuel Franco said he was looking through $10 worth of quick-pick tickets after the drawing and thought he had checked all of them, but then he saw one last ticket stuck to another one, which turned out to be the winner.
Fittingly, we celebrate the ultimate prize of chance today. #NationalTakeAChanceDay#wilottery #WINsconsin pic.twitter.com/WTTVxtr5Oi
— Wisconsin Lottery (@wilottery) April 23, 2019
He told reporters what happened after he saw he matched the first two numbers and the Powerball: “I was going insane. I looked back at the three other numbers, they all matched. My heart started racing, my blood started pumping, I felt warm. I started screaming.” Franco didn’t reveal much about himself, including what he does for a living, but said he quit his job the second day after winning. Franco chose to take the winnings all at once, which reduces the prize to $477 million, and after taxes he’ll get $326 million.
