Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

1 winner of Mega Millions $1B prize; third largest ever in U.S.

patron

Keith Srakocic / AP

A patron, who did not want to give her name, shows the ticket she had just purchased for the Mega Millions lottery drawing at the lottery ticket vending kiosk in a Smoker Friendly store, Friday, Jan. 22, 2021, in Cranberry Township, Pa. The jackpot for the Mega Millions lottery game has grown to $1 billion ahead of Friday night’s drawing after more than four months without a winner.

DES MOINES, Iowa — One winning ticket was sold in Michigan for the $1 billion Mega Millions jackpot, making it the third-largest lottery prize in U.S. history.

The winning numbers drawn Friday are: 4, 26, 42, 50, 60 and a Mega Ball of 24.

The Mega Millions top prize had been growing since Sept. 15, when a winning ticket was sold in Wisconsin. The lottery's next estimated jackpot is $20 million.

Friday night's drawing comes two days after a ticket sold in Maryland matched all six numbers drawn and won a $731.1 million Powerball jackpot.

Only two lottery prizes in the U.S. have been larger than Friday's jackpot. Three tickets for a $1.586 billion Powerball jackpot were sold in January 2016, and one winning ticket sold for a $1.537 billion Mega Millions jackpot in October 2018.

The jackpot figures refer to amounts if a winner opts for an annuity, paid in 30 annual installments. Most winners choose a cash prize, which for the Mega Millions jackpot is $739.6 million.

The odds of winning a Mega Millions jackpot are incredibly steep at one in 302.5 million.

The game is played in 45 states as well as Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands.