Mega Millions Ticket Buyer From Illinois Wins $533 Million Jackpot
Topline
A single ticket buyer from Illinois emerged as the winner of a $533 million Mega Millions jackpot on Tuesday night—scoring the biggest lottery prize of 2026 so far—although the winner will take home a much smaller payout after taxes and deductions.
The Mega Millions jackpot won on Tuesday is the biggest lottery prize of 2026 so far.
Getty Images
Key Facts
The winner will have a choice between taking the $533 million prize split across 30 annual payments or a one-time cash prize of $244.2 million—the preferred choice for most winners.
If the cash reward is chosen, the winnings will first drop to around $185.6 million after a mandatory federal withholding of 24% is applied.
The winner is likely to face a federal marginal rate of 37%, depending on their taxable income, further cutting their winnings to around $153.8 million.
If they choose the installment route, the winner’s annual payments of around $17.7 million will fall to around $11.15 million after the 37% federal marginal rate is applied.
While some states don’t tax lottery winnings, Illinois withholds 4.95% of the winnings for state income taxes.
Surprising Fact
To win the big prize, the Mega Millions ticket buyer had to overcome astronomically poor odds of 1-in-290.4 million. This is only slightly better than the Powerball jackpot’s odds of 1-in-292.2 million.
Key Background
Tuesday’s prize was the first Mega Millions jackpot win since November last year, when a single ticket sold in Georgia won a $983 million prize. A month later, the nearly billion-dollar Mega Millions prize was eclipsed by a $1.82 billion Powerball Jackpot won by a ticket buyer from Arkansas. Before Tuesday’s draw, the biggest lottery prize of 2026 so far was a $209.3 million Powerball jackpot won by a ticket buyer from North Carolina.
Further Reading
Powerball Ticket Sold In Arkansas Wins $1.82 Billion Jackpot—Here’s What They Could Take Home (Forbes)
Nearly $1 Billion Winning Mega Millions Ticket Sold In Georgia (Forbes)
This content is sourced from www.forbes.com and is shared for informational purposes only.
