Winning ticket drawn in New Jersey for $847 million Powerball jackpot
By Chris Boyette, Maria Aguilar Prieto, CNN
(CNN) — A single Powerball ticket in New Jersey has won an estimated $847 million after matching all six numbers in Wednesday’s drawing, the company said Thursday.
The winning numbers were 15, 34, 41, 53, 56, and red Powerball 21, with a Power Play multiplier of 2x.
The winner has the option to take a one-time payment of $363.1 million or an annuity paid out over 29 years.
There were no winners for the $2 million and $1 million Match 5 prizes.
The winning ticket was sold at a Wegmans grocery store in Montvale, which is set to receive a $30,000 bonus check.
Wegmans store manager Nick Tassi accepted the giant check on Thursday, announcing that the money would go straight to the company’s Check Out Hunger campaign, aimed at raising funds for local food banks.
Wednesday’s jackpot was the ninth-largest prize in game history and the second-largest prize so far this year, according to game officials. Powerball updated the jackpot from $835 million, raising it from the 10th-largest prize in game history.
“Good afternoon, and welcome to the luckiest town in the United States,” Montvale Mayor Mike Ghassali said at a news conference Thursday afternoon celebrating the win.
James Carey, executive director of the New Jersey Lottery, offered some advice to the unknown winner: First, sign the back of the ticket, take a picture of it and put it somewhere safe.
“And then I would tell your most trusted friend, ‘Hey, I won the Powerball ticket,’” Carey added.
Next, the winner would be wise to call a lawyer, a tax accountant and a financial adviser, Carey said.
“This is an extraordinary amount of money, and you’re gonna need help from professionals that deal with things like this all the time,” he said.
The last time the Powerball jackpot was won was August 12, when a lucky player claimed a $1.04 billion jackpot in Illinois.
Powerball drawings take place three times a week, on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday, at 10:59 p.m. ET. The jackpot will reset to $20 million for Saturday’s drawing.
The odds of winning Wednesday’s jackpot were extremely slim, at an estimated 1 in 292.2 million, according to the lottery.
This jackpot cycle was the first in which players in the United Kingdom had participated from the beginning of the multi-drawing stretch, following the expansion of ticket sales to the country in July.
It also marks the first time a lottery outside the US has contributed to the Powerball jackpot, according to the lottery.
This story has been updated with additional information.
The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2026 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.
CNN’s Lauren Mascarenhas contributed to this report.
