Lottery officials say someone has won the $1.537 billion Mega Millions jackpot, which was just short of the record for all lotteries. There was a $1.586 billion Powerball jackpot in 2016.
Mega Millions officials say a ticket purchased in South Carolina matches all six numbers in Tuesday night's drawing. The massive jackpot is the world's largest-ever lottery grand prize.
The winning numbers were 5, 28, 62, 65, 70 and Mega Ball 5.
The lucky player overcame miserable odds. The chance of matching all six numbers and winning the top prize was 1 in 302.5 million.
Second-prize tickets
Tuesday night's Mega Millions drawing produced 36 second-prize tickets with each matching the five white balls drawing. One of the Florida winners also matched the Megaplier, so that ticket is worth $3 million -- while the other Florida tickets are worth $1 million.
Eight tickets sold: California
Four tickets sold: Florida, New York
Two tickets sold: Massachusetts, Michigan, North Carolina, New Jersey and Virginia
One ticket sold: Arizona, the District of Columbia, Iowa, Kentucky, Missouri, New Mexico, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas and Wisconsin
Powerball drawing Wednesday night:
If you didn't win last night, take heart: There's another huge jackpot up ahead.
While Wednesday's $620 million Powerball prize may seem like chump change compared to the Mega Millions prize, it's actually the third-largest Powerball jackpot in game history and the sixth-largest jackpot in U.S. history.
The Powerball drawing is scheduled for 11 p.m. ET Wednesday.
Mega Millions winner could stay anonymous:
Most winners opt for the cash reward. In this case, the cash reward was $913.7 million. That number is likely to fall even more as other taxes come into play.
“The moment we’ve been waiting for finally arrived, and we couldn’t be more excited,” read a statement from Gordon Medenica, lead director of the Mega Millions Group. “This is truly a historic occasion. We’re so happy for the winner, and we know the South Carolina Education Lottery can’t wait to meet the lucky ticket holder.”
While lottery officials will meet the winner -- or winners if the ticket was bought as part of a pool -- the general public may never know the identity. South Carolina allows lottery winners to remain anonymous.
The Mega Millions jackpot has been growing since July 24, when 11 co-workers in California split $543 million.
Three other jackpots have been won this year – $451 million on Jan. 5 (Florida), $533 million on March 30 (New Jersey), and $142 million on May 4 (Ohio).
For the next drawing on Friday, Oct.26, the jackpot resets to its starting value of $40 million with a lump-sum payout of $22.8 million cash.
Mega Millions is played in 44 states as well as Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Note: The Associated Press contributed to this story.
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