North Carolina Man Wins $344.6 Million Powerball Lottery Using Numbers He Found From A Fortune Cookie
Retired retailer Charles W. Jackson Jr. from North Carolina was given a fortune cookie as a gift from his granddaughter.
Appreciating the gesture, he used its lucky numbers on a lottery ticket for Powerball.
Little did he know his numbers were some of the luckiest in history.
The winning #Powerball jackpot ticket was sold in North Carolina! A single ticket won the $344.6 million prize. Sta… https://t.co/OgFatZ895D— NC Education Lottery (@NC Education Lottery) 1559477404.0
Upon seeing that day's Powerball numbers, Jackson thought he had won only $50k (a tidy sum), and began heading into nearby Ralleigh to pick it up.
Before long, however, he noticed he was a little luckier than he thought:
"I said, 'Dang, I got them all.'"
North Carolina lottery winner Charles W. Jackson Jr. speaks about his $344 million jackpot, which officials say is… https://t.co/JMAOjbuOCe— Reuters Top News (@Reuters Top News) 1559730600.0
@Reuters Wow, what a lucky guy!— Gewoon Rechts (@Gewoon Rechts) 1559730718.0
After calling his wife and letting her know of the situation, Jackson arrived to claim his prize: $344.6 million, the most money ever claimed off of a single North Carolina ticket.
@CNN Whatever I’m not mad it’s fine I’m fact I’m happy I didn’t win— my brain needs 2 chill (@my brain needs 2 chill) 1559495838.0
@CNN https://t.co/eNquqllJDh— Mave Deltzer (@Mave Deltzer) 1559497311.0
Jackson decided to receive his payout in a lump sum of $223 million, at least $1 million of which he said he'd be giving to his brother to settle a bargain.
At his press conference, however, a lot of the attention was stolen by the Powerball mascot standing just behind him.
@Reuters Shout out to the powerball girl— Eric O’Donnell (@Eric O’Donnell) 1559731170.0
@Reuters https://t.co/2GnijBvrEt— David Bautz, PhD (@David Bautz, PhD) 1559734851.0
@Reuters Be a model they said. It’ll be glamorous they said.— Steph Dyhrberg (@Steph Dyhrberg) 1559730882.0
@Reuters I hope he gives some of it to the woman in the background. Those jazz hands deserve it.— Jeff Ducharme (@Jeff Ducharme) 1559731780.0
@Reuters Grandkids: Gramma.... whatcha doin there in that costume ? Gramma: Well....... I tell you what......... t… https://t.co/Nw9WOuSKpH— 💎 ʇɐpıʍdnznʍ 💎 (@💎 ʇɐpıʍdnznʍ 💎) 1559731211.0
According to CBS News, he also plans to donate portions of his winnings to charities such as "St. Jude's, Shriner's Hospital and the Wounded Warrior Project."
@Reuters Kudos to him, and the Powerball Photo-bomber behind him.— Mike Esposito (@Mike Esposito) 1559745227.0
The retired husband commented at a press conference that he hopes the influx of cash doesn't change him:
"I'm still going to wear my jeans - maybe newer ones."
@Reuters Congratulations!!!🎈🎉🎊— Linda Sharp (@Linda Sharp) 1559745183.0
@Reuters That dude was actually pretty funny good for him and he should chip off the powerball girl a million for b… https://t.co/uQOGjienAI— Roddy (@Roddy) 1559754881.0