Mega Millions lottery soars to fourth-largest jackpot in game’s history

The jackpot for the first Mega Millions drawing of the new year is estimated at $785 million, marking the fourth-largest jackpot in the game’s history.

Friday’s drawing, which was estimated at $685 million, produced no jackpot winners, although one ticket sold in Ohio did win the $1 million second-tier prize.

According to a Saturday press release from Mega Millions, the jackpot has eventually grown to over $1 billion in each of the three times the grand total made it past the $700 million mark.

The first Mega Millions billionaire won in October 2018 when a South Carolina player took home a $1.537 billion prize, the release indicated. That jackpot remains the all-time record in game history.

According to the List Wire, the highest jackpot in lottery history was a Powerball grand prize won by a player in California in November 2022, which was worth $2.04 billion.

Another Mega Millions player from Des Plaines, Illinois, took home a $1.337 billion prize in July 2022, and in January 2021, a player from Oakland County, Michigan, started off their new year with a $1.05 billion jackpot.

Other winners from Friday’s drawing include 82 tickets sold across the country that matched four white balls plus the Mega Ball, with prizes ranging from $10,000 to $30,000 each. In total, Friday’s drawing produced 2,776,599 winning tickets with prizes ranging from $2 to $1 million.

According to Mega Millions, there have been 22 drawings since the last jackpot was won in October. That grand prize was for a total of $502 million and was shared by two players—one in San Jose, California, and one in Fort Myers, Florida.

Here are the six Mega Millions jackpots won in 2022:

1. 10/14/2022 — $502 million (California and Florida)
2. 07/29/2022 — $1.337 billion (Illinois)
3. 04/15/2022 — $20 million (Tennessee)
4. 04/12/2022 — $106 million (Minnesota)
5. 03/08/2022 — $126 million (New York)
6. 01/28/2022 — $421 million (California)

Here are the six Mega Millions jackpots won in 2021:

1. 10/22/2021 — $108 million (Arizona)
2. 09/21/2021 — $432 million (New York)
3. 06/08/2021 — $56 million (Illinois)
4. 05/21/2021 — $516 million (Pennsylvania)
5. 02/16/2021 — $96 million (New York)
6. 01/22/2021 — $1.05 billion (Michigan)

Mega Millions is a multi-state lottery that holds drawings every Tuesday and Friday night at 11 p.m. ET. Tickets for Tuesday’s drawing are available until 10:45 p.m. ET at participating locations and are sold for $2 per line. The odds of winning the jackpot with one Mega Millions ticket are one in 303 million.

For more information on Mega Millions, or to check your past numbers, visit its website.

Here are the top 10 Mega Millions jackpot winnings to date:

1. $1.537 billion – October 2018 (South Carolina)
2. $1.337 billion – July 2022 (Illinois)
3. $1.050 billion – January 2021 (Michigan)
4. $785 million – Current jackpot
5. $656 million – March 2012 (Illinois, Kansas and Maryland)
6. $648 million – December 2013 (California and Georgia)
7. $543 million – July 2018 (California)
8. $536 million – July 2016 (Indiana)
9. $533 million – March 2018 (New Jersey)
10. $522 million – June 2019 (California)