One lucky lottery player in Georgia walked away with a jackpot prize of $980 million.
A Mega Millions ticket purchased in Newman was declared the winner of the grand prize Friday night, according to a press release from the Georgia Lottery. The ticket also marks the largest jackpot ever won in Georgia.
The winning numbers, announced during Friday night’s Mega Millions drawing, were 1-8-11-12-57, while the Mega Ball was 7. And it was a Quik Pik lottery ticket — which is when the numbers are randomly generated by a computer system — sold at a Publix store that matched all six numbers drawn.
The winner can choose to receive the $980 million in annual payments over the next 30 years or can get a lump-sum cash payment of $452.2 million. Both options are before taxes are taken out, and the unidentified winner will have 180 days to claim their prize.
“We are thrilled to congratulate the largest winner in our state’s history,” Georgia Lottery President and CEO Gretchen Corbin said in a statement. “With every Mega Millions ticket sold in Georgia supporting HOPE and Pre-K, Georgia’s students and families are also big winners. We appreciate our players and retailers for their support of our mission.”
Mega Millions tickets cost five dollars each, with players picking six numbers from two separate pools of numbers and one number between one and 24, which is the gold Mega Ball. Or, players can choose the Easy Pick/Quick Pick option that allows the computer to randomly generate a set of numbers for them.
The Publix store in Georgia that sold the jackpot ticket will also get an incentive bonus payment of $50,000.
The $980 million ticket is the highest single payout in the state of Georgia. The record was previously held by a Powerball ticket, sold in Buford in 2024, with the $478.2 million jackpot. Two individuals split the prize and chose the cash option of $230.6 million.
Friday’s drawing in Georgia put an end to the record-breaking run of 40 consecutive Mega Millions lottery drawings without a jackpot winner. Before Friday, the last jackpot was claimed in June in Virginia, with the ticket winning $348 million.
The $980 million ticket is also the eighth-largest jackpot in Mega Millions history, surpassing a ticket winning $810 million that was sold in Texas. The top Mega Millions jackpot ever was in Florida in 2023, with a ticket winning $1.602 billion sold.
There was another big win in the Mega Millions lottery on Friday. A lottery ticket sold in Michigan was declared the winner of $3 million, since it matched the five white balls drawn — 1, 8, 11, 12, and 57 — and had a 3X multiplier. The ticket was purchased at a gas station in Portage, according to the Michigan Lottery.
