Another Day, Another $1 Billion Lottery Jackpot

There have been seven claimed winning tickets of $1 billion or more for the two multistate lotteries, Mega Millions and Powerball, since 2016.

The person or group who won the $1.08 billion jackpot in a July Powerball lottery hasn’t come forward, perhaps because California, the place where the sole ticket with all the winning numbers hit, requires winners to identify themselves by their full names.

A number of states have been moving away from such requirements, including a revived effort in New York state, which also requires the winner to be identified. State legislators are taking up legislation they have passed once only to have it vetoed in 2018 by former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who said identities of the winners should be known to maintain accountability for the lottery commission.

At least eight states already allow anonymity, including New York neighbor New Jersey.

Eric Jaffe, a lawyer who has worked with more than a dozen people in New York state to shield their identities in limited liability companies to claim their lottery winnings since 2019, said it only makes sense at a time when identities are vulnerable to cybercrime.

“You’re a target,” he told Barron’s by phone on Monday. “The risk is just too great.”

That’s particularly the case now that the lottery jackpots are getting bigger. It’s the second time this year that Mega Millions has grown to more than $1 billion. Powerball, sold in 45 states and Washington, D.C., grew to more than $2 billion before a winning ticket was drawn last November. The multistate lotteries didn’t grow so big before 2016.

Akshay Khanna, the CEO and co-founder of Jackpot.com, an online site that sells lottery tickets, said the increased frequency of billion-dollar jackpots can be explained by several recent decisions by lottery officials.

Powerball added a third drawing on Mondays, and increased the numbers that could be drawn, lowering a player’s odds. Mega Millions also made more numbers available to be drawn. Mega Millions also raised the price of a ticket to $2 from $1.

“The implemented changes successfully impacted the odds of hitting the jackpot and gave prizes a better chance to grow more frequently,” Khanna said. 

Write to Liz Moyer at [email protected]