At long last, a winner has come forward to claim a $1.13 billion Mega Millions jackpot won in March, the New Jersey Lottery announced Monday, ending months of speculation.
The mystery will never be fully revealed, though, since the winner “values privacy and has chosen to remain anonymous” in accordance with a New Jersey state law in effect since 2020, the lottery said in its statement announcing the winner.
The person opted to take a $537.5 million before-tax cash payout for the fifth-largest jackpot in Mega Millions history. It’s the biggest ever won in New Jersey, according to NJ.com.
For months all that was known about the grand prize was its purchase point, a Neptune Township ShopRite liquor store in Monmouth County. It matched the winning numbers of 07, 11, 22, 29 and 38, the Gold Mega Ball number 04 and the multiplier number of 02. The store that sold the ticket received $30,000, which it donated to the grocer’s ShopRite Partners in Caring Program to combat food insecurity, NJ.com reported at the time.
The winner had bought just one Mega Millions ticket on the day of the March 26 drawing, manually choosing the numbers rather than opting for a randomly generated Quick Pick.
Six months later, Mega Millions put out another call for the winner to come forward, warning that the ticket would expire in another six months. On Monday the lottery said that winners often wait to come forward.
“It is common for large jackpot winners to take their time to file a claim,” the New Jersey Lottery said.
Yet another jackpot could brighten someone’s holidays immeasurably if someone’s numbers match in the Christmas Eve drawing. As of Monday, the top prize was again edging close to $1 billion, standing at $944 million, the seventh-largest. The last jackpot win was an $800 million ticket sold in Sugarland, Texas in September.
