One lucky winner bought the nation’s only matching Powerball ticket worth more than $2 billion at an Altadena gas station, becoming California’s first billionaire-by-lottery, according to state lottery officials.
The winner hasn’t yet come forward, but Joe Chahayed, the owner of the service station on West Woodbury Road, said he was hopeful the new billionaire would come from their neighborhood. Chahayed, who has owned and operated Joe’s Service Center — now an Exxon Mobile franchise — for 20 years, was presented with a $1-million bonus check from the California Lottery for selling the $2.04-billion winning ticket.
“We want to thank all of our community members that always come, dedicated to this station,” said one of Chahayed’s sons at a press conference broadcast by KTLA-TV Channel 5. “Thank you to the lottery system for creating a program where the schools are going to benefit, a lot of people actually benefit from it.”
California’s schools will receive $156.3 million from the jackpot, which is the highest contribution from a single roll in California Lottery history, officials said.
The record-setting jackpot had been growing for weeks, but suspense began to mount Monday evening when lottery officials delayed the drawing for the winning numbers.
The Powerball drawing ended up being postponed 10 hours due to a security issue in another state, with the winning numbers announced just before 6 a.m. Pacific. By 10 a.m. Tuesday, California Lottery officials confirmed that someone bought the winning ticket at Joe’s Service Center in Altadena, matching all six of the Powerball numbers.
The jackpot was reported as an estimated $1.9 billion Monday night but rose to $2.04 billion by Tuesday morning following updated calculations. The previous Powerball record of $1.586 billion was set in 2016 and shared by winners in California, Florida and Tennessee.
But the lone winning ticket Tuesday will collect the state’s first lottery grand prize that topped $1 billion, officials said.
California Lottery spokesperson Greg Parashak said the cash value of the jackpot comes in just below $1 billion, at $997.6 million.
“It’s a lot of money,” Parashak said. “I would imagine this person’s going to take their time [coming forward].”
Chahayed said he plans to share his $1 million with his family and 11 grandchildren.
“It feels very good,” he told KTLA.
The winning numbers in the drawing held in Tallahassee, Fla., were 10, 33, 41, 47 and 56. The red Powerball number was 10.
Powerball officials did not confirm details of the security issue that delayed the drawing or where it occurred.
There were three other big winners in California on Tuesday, matching five of the winning Powerball numbers for $1.15 million prize. Those tickets were sold at Stues Dairy in Gardena, Oak Valley 76 in Beaumont and 1001 Castro Street Market in San Francisco.
The odds of winning the latest jackpot were 1 in 292 million, according to the California Lottery.
