(TOPEKA, Kan.) — Kansas Lottery officials have said the holder of a winning Mega Millions ticket has come forward to claim a share of a record $656 million jackpot.
The winner has chosen to remain anonymous. Kansas law allows them to do so.
The Kansas Lottery says the winning ticket was purchased at Casey's convenience store in Ottawa, Kansas.
Lottery Director Dennis Wilson says the person came to the agency's Topeka headquarters Friday morning with an attorney and some financial advisers. Wilson says the person does not want to be identified, even by gender.
Winning tickets for last Friday's record jackpot were also purchased in Illinois and Maryland, making the Kansas ticket worth almost $219 million. The winner chose the lump sum payment of roughly $110 million after taxes.
Federal income withholding taxes (25%) on the prize are $39,470,517.50; state income withholding taxes (5%) amount to $7,894,103.50; bringing the total taxes withheld to $47,364,621.00.
The jackpot amount was originally estimated at $640 million but with sales from all 44 Mega Millions jurisdictions calculated and totaled, the final jackpot amount for the drawing came to $656 million dollars.
