The owner of Las Palmitas Mini Market, Navor Herrera, received a $1M check during a press conference with Powerball officials on Thursday morning. (FOX 11)
The Mega Millions jackpot has officially crossed the halfway point to $1 billion.
The grand prize reached an estimated $525 million after no ticket matched all six numbers drawn on Tuesday night. The winning Mega Millions numbers were 5, 45, 55, 58 and 68 and the Mega Ball 7, the lottery said. The cash option is worth $247.1 million.
The next chance lottery players have at winning the Mega Millions jackpot is on Feb. 23.
Mega Millions forms are stacked and waiting for players on Aug. 7, 2023, in Silver Spring, Maryland. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images / Getty Images)
Mega Millions said it “would be the 11th largest jackpot in the history of the game, and the fifth largest jackpot in the past five years” if won at that level. Its largest-ever jackpot, won last year, was $1.602 billion.
WINNER OF FLORIDA $36M MEGA MILLIONS JACKPOT NEVER CLAIMED IT
The jackpot was last won in December, when two tickets in California split a $394 million grand prize.
A person plays the Mega Millions lottery at a gas station in Trona, California, on July 11, 2023. (Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images) / Getty Images)
The current jackpot marks the first half-billion-dollar jackpot in 2024. There were two instances where it crossed that point in the past 12 months, Mega Millions said.
The lottery also saw two jackpots climb above the billion-dollar mark in 2023, with one hitting $1.348 billion in January and another reaching $1.602 billion in August.
FIRST WINNING POWERBALL LOTTERY NUMBERS OF THE YEAR DRAWN AS JACKPOT TOPPED $842.4 MILLION
In this photo illustration, Mega Millions lottery tickets are displayed on Aug. 1, 2023, in San Anselmo, California. (Photo Illustration by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images / Getty Images)
Meanwhile, Powerball’s jackpot has also edged higher in recent weeks. It stood at $348 million ahead of its drawing on Wednesday night.
