Lottery Club Wins Largest Prize In Michigan History: $1.05B

OAKLAND COUNTY, MI – A lottery club in Oakland County has claimed the largest prize in Michigan Lottery history: a $1.05 billion Mega Millions jackpot.

The Wolverine FLL Club's winning ticket matched all of the numbers that were drawn on Jan. 22, as well as the Mega Ball. The club decided to claim the prize as a one-time lump sum payment of $776 million. After taxes, the club received about $557 million.

“A club member saw a sign that the jackpot was up to $1 billion and remembered that they hadn’t bought their tickets yet, so they pulled into the Kroger,” said the club’s representative and attorney, Kurt D. Panouses, in a prepared statement. “When you play of course you dream of winning, but the reality of it has been incredible.

The winning ticket was purchased at Kroger in Novi. Kroger received a $50,000 bonus commission for selling the winning ticket and announced it would donate the entire bonus to the Food Bank Council of Michigan.

“Kroger is committed to our mission of feeding our communities,” said Rachel Hurst, Corporate Affairs Manager, The Kroger Co. of Michigan, in a prepared statement. “Strong partnerships with both the state of Michigan and the Food Bank Council of Michigan are integral in driving our mission forward.”

The $1.05 billion jackpot is the largest prize ever won in Michigan and the third-largest prize ever won in the United States. According to the Michigan Lottery, the national and world record for a lottery jackpot in $1.56 billion, which was won in 2016 and split between California, Florida and Tennessee.

Previously, the largest prize ever won by a Michigan player was $337 million in 2012.