Two people who agreed to divide the $1.34 billion reward if they won it have stepped forward to claim it nearly eight weeks after one of the highest Mega Millions jackpots in history was drawn, according to the Illinois Lottery.
The winning ticket was purchased in late July at a Speedway petrol station in Des Plaines, some 20 miles northwest of downtown Chicago. That was where the winning ticket was purchased in late July. According to the lottery, the jackpot is the third-largest in US history. The winners, who have spent the previous few weeks working on the claim process with seasoned legal and financial consultants, have expressed a desire to maintain their anonymity, according to the Illinois Lottery. According to the press announcement, they have chosen to accept the $780.5 million lump sum payment.
"This is by far the biggest prize I've ever had to process in my more than five years of service with the Illinois Lottery." There was a lot of enthusiasm present when we met with the winners' attorneys," said Luis Rodriguez, the claims manager for the Illinois Lottery, who worked with the prize winners and their counsel throughout the prize claim procedure.
Giving away this much money and knowing how much of an impact it will have on the winners' lives and the lives of those close to them is a strange sensation. Even just being a part of that process was a great sensation, so I can only imagine how the winners themselves are feeling, "Rodriguez threw in. According to Harold Mays, director of the Illinois Lottery, the winners' decision to buy a Mega Millions ticket after visiting the Speedway "turned out to be an absolutely life-changing decision."