Illinois Powerball winner claims $1.04 bn jackpot, can pick annuity or cash

A single ticket sold in Illinois won an estimated $1.04 billion Powerball jackpot on Wednesday, 12 August 2026, marking the largest U.S. Lottery win of the year and ranking as the eighth-largest prize in the game's history. According to lottery officials, the winning ticket was purchased at a Hy-Vee gas station located on 36th Street in Quincy, Illinois. The winning numbers for the Wednesday evening drawing were 4, 26, 66, 67, and 69, with a red Powerball of 9. The ticket was bought at odds of 1 in 292.2 million, and the drawing featured a Power Play multiplier of 2x.

The Wednesday night drawing brought an end to a lengthy dry spell for the game. The jackpot had rolled over through 44 consecutive drawings without a single winner, following a previous jackpot win on 2 May, when tickets sold in Texas and Florida split a $20 million prize. The recent run of massive prizes follows a 2025 calendar year that included two separate billion-dollar jackpots: an estimated $1.8 billion prize won on Christmas Eve, and a $1.787 billion jackpot split between winning tickets sold in Missouri and Texas.

Media additions

In addition to the grand prize winner, the 12 August drawing produced several other major winners across the United States. According to lottery reports, a player in Massachusetts matched all five white balls and doubled their prize to $2 million by purchasing the optional Power Play feature. Meanwhile, four other players matched all five white balls to secure $1 million prizes, with those tickets sold in Arizona, California, Florida, and North Carolina. More than three million total tickets won cash prizes by matching at least one of the numbers drawn.

"Congratulations to our newest Powerball jackpot winner in Illinois. For more than three decades, Powerball has shown that a winning ticket can be sold anywhere the game is played, giving every $2 ticket the chance to change not only a winner's life, but generations to come."

Stephen Durrell, chair of the Powerball Product Group and executive director of the Kansas Lottery, via Newsweek

The identity of the Illinois ticket holder remains unconfirmed. Under Illinois state law, lottery winners of prizes exceeding $250,000 are permitted to remain completely anonymous. State and lottery officials have not released any details regarding the winner's age, hometown, or occupation, nor has it been revealed whether the ticket was purchased by an individual or as part of a group, or when the claimant plans to officially complete the process required to collect the prize.

Payout options and tax realities

The winner faces a pivotal financial choice between an annuitized prize valued at an estimated $1.04 billion or a lump-sum cash option of $450.5 million. The advertised annuity is distributed across 29 annual installments following an immediate initial payment. These subsequent yearly payments increase by roughly 5 percent annually to offset inflation. The lottery funds this escalating disbursement structure by purchasing government bonds using the prize pool.

Alternatively, the cash option represents the actual money collected from ticket sales and sitting directly in the prize pool. Whichever structure the winner chooses, the payout will be heavily reduced by government levies. The Internal Revenue Service automatically withholds 24 percent of winnings upfront for federal taxes. Depending on the recipient's personal income level, additional federal taxes can push the total federal rate as high as 37 percent. Furthermore, the state of Illinois levies a 4.95 percent state income tax on lottery winnings.

What to watch next

Following the massive win, the Powerball jackpot has reset. The next drawing is scheduled to take place on Saturday, 15 August, at approximately 10:59 p.m. ET, with the estimated jackpot returning to $20 million.