Someone in Illinois Just Won the $533 Million Mega Millions Jackpot

Another lottery win in Illinois, and it's still not me.  It could be you, though!

Someone in Illinois is waking up a whole lot richer today... but maybe not quite $533 million richer.

One single ticket sold in Illinois matched all six numbers in Tuesday night's Mega Millions drawing, winning the massive $533 million jackpot.  This is the biggest lottery win we've seen so far in 2026.

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The winning numbers were 16-21-30-35-65, and the gold Mega Ball 7.  So if you bought a ticket, now might be a good time to double-check it.  Maybe check it a couple times just to be safe!

Someone in Illinois Just Won the $533 Million Mega Millions Jackpot

People always forget about taxes when it comes to winning large amounts of money like this.  They take a big cut.

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Like most big lottery wins, the winner has two choices: take the full $533M spread out over 30 yearly payments OR take the one-time lump sum, which would be $244.2M.  Most people choose the lump sum (honestly, I would!).  But even that number doesn't stay $244M for long.

Right away, the federal government take a mandatory 24% withholding, which drops th payout to $185.6M.  Then, depending on the tax bracket, the winner will likely face the top federal tax rate of 37%, bringing the actual take-home closer to $153.8M.

Since this ticket was sold in Illinois, the state also takes 4.95% in income tax on lottery winnings.  So, the $533M jackpot turns into something a little smaller after all the deductions.  Still life-changing money (obviously), but just not quite the number that makes headlines.  The craziest part is that the odds of winning a Mega Millions are 1 in 290.4 million.  Basically, you have a better chance getting struck by lightning than winning this.  But someone did in Illinois!  Lucky duck.