The top prize of Friday’s Mega Millions lottery draw has surpassed the $1 billion barrier, making it the fourth-highest prize of its kind, according to a statement from the game’s organizer.
The lottery’s jackpot has been on the rise for more than three months now, and with it so are the dreams of the participants, with no one able to guess six correct numbers in the last 29 draws.
After withdrawing funds on Tuesday evening, the Mega Millions website experienced a technical glitch that lasted for about two hours due to heavy traffic, the group said.
The largest prize in the history of the lottery was $1.586 billion and was won in January 2016 in another major American lottery, Powerball, but the amount was divided among three winners.
A potential winner of Friday’s lottery could receive $1 billion if he agrees to split the payments over 30 years.
If he wanted to claim his prize right away, he would only receive $603 million, some of which MegaMillion estimates will be tax deductible.
Source: El Nashra