Let me set the scene: You’ve left work after one of those tiresome days, you get home, sit down in front of the television and instead of tuning into whatever mindless television show you normally watch, you switch on the news and see your face plastered everywhere. You have won the lottery.
That’s pretty much what happened to Mavis Wanczyk. But she didn’t just win any old lottery; on Thursday evening Mavis walked away as the sole winner of a whopping $758.7 million Powerball jackpot, making her the recipient of the largest single-ticket prize in American lottery history.
The medical care center worker purchased the ticket at the Pride Station and Store in Chicopee, Massachusetts. And whilst you would presume that such a lucky draw would be derived from some meaningful dates or the like, Mavis stated that the winning numbers were all randomly derived.
The 53-year-old was leaving work on Wednesday evening with her friend Rob when she discovered that she was the winner of the largest sole-ticket Powerball jackpot in US history.
Speaking at a press conference on Thursday, Mavis elaborated on the fateful day:
“I was leaving work at night. I leave with this guy, Rob, who’s a Chicopee fireman. He said, ‘I bet someone has won with these numbers as birthdays’. I thought it’s never going to [be] me, it’s just a pipe dream I’ve always had […] He was reading these numbers and I was like, ‘I have these numbers.’”
I’m sure that we have all spent countless hours dreaming of all the things that we would buy and do if we had unlimited funds.
Now, I don’t know about you, but if I won the lottery, I would immediately quit my job and head over to foreign lands, where I could roam about to my heart’s content on some of planet Earth’s most beautiful beaches. Others, however, have different and decidedly more materialistic plans.
But not Mavis. Since she was named as the winner of the Powerball jackpot on Thursday evening, everyone has been been asking the same question; just what is she going to do with that three-quarters-of-a-billion dollars?
Unlike its European counterparts, America taxes its lottery winners. However, Mavis Wanczyk, the proud winner of a Powerball jackpot has little to worry about.
Despite facing heavy taxation on the large amount, lottery officials have stated that Mavis is due to take home a lump sum payment of $480 million or $336 million after taxes. This is no small feat, putting her on equal or greater financial standing with several big-name celebrities.
Not only does Kim Kardashian’s net worth of $175 million look rather measly in comparison, Mavis is now richer than Kim’s husband, Kanye West, as well as Katy Perry, Leonardo DiCaprio and Mick Jagger.
Certainly, Mavis’ Powerball win is second only to the $1.3 billion which was shared between three individuals back in January of 2016.
So what exactly will Mavis be doing with all of those millions?
Not exactly what one would expect it seems. Speaking at a press conference on Thursday evening, Mavis asserted, “the first thing I want to do is sit back and relax…”
The mother-of-two then chuckled, “I wanted to retire in 12 [years] and it came early […] I’ve called [work] and told them I will not be coming back,” she said, revealing that she had quit the job where she had worked for 32 years.
Aside from that, however, Mavis is understandably overwhelmed by the whole thing and requires some time to process the fact that she’s now one of the richest women in America. Explaining that she doesn’t have any big plans as of yet, she added, “I want to be alone, and figure out what I want to do… I’m going to hide in my bed.”
And in conversation with reporters, she stated that she came forward quickly to get it all over and done with:
“Today, as I was driving here, I [was] still like ‘this isn’t true, this can’t be’ and then now, it’s like ‘I am a winner.’ And I’m scared, but I’ll be OK. I’m just coming down from all that. I just want to be me.
“I just wanted to do this, I wanted to just get it over, done with and then everybody will just leave me alone.”
In case you want to have a crack at trying to win a Powerball jackpot yourself, Mavis’ winning numbers were 6, 7, 16, 23 and 26, with a powerful number of 4. But before you go and play, maybe have a good, long think about what you would splash the cash on if you won, I mean, no one wants to be in Mavis’ position, do they?
