Mega Millions player wins $1.22 billion jackpot: draw, numbers, results

Mega holiday winnings.

A Mega Millions player in California won the estimated $1.22 billion jackpot on Friday night, ending the lottery’s three-month drought without a top prize winner.

The winning numbers were 3, 7, 37, 49, 55 and the golden mega ball 6.

The extremely lucky ticket holder matched all six numbers, beating the 1 in 302,575,350 chance of winning the top prize.

The new billionaire can make the estimated claim $1.22 billion in annual payments or choose the one-off cash payment of approx $549.7 Million.

It is the fifth time a Mega Millions ticket holder has won the jackpot in 2024. On September 10, an $800 million jackpot-winning ticket was sold at the Murphy Express in Sugar Land, Texas.

Sol Living Trust accepted the prize and chose to pay out $409.3 million in cash, the Texas lottery announced in October.

The $1.22 billion prize is the fifth largest in Mega Millions history, surpassing the $1.12 billion drawn at ShopRite in Neptune, New Jersey on March 26, 2024.

The winner of what has become the sixth-largest jackpot in Mega Millions history came forward Monday, submitting his $1.128 billion ticket to begin collecting, nine months after the drawing.

The Monmouth County ShopRite sold the big winner, which matched lottery numbers 7, 11, 22, 29 and 38 – as well as the No. 4 Gold Mega Ball and No. 2 Multiplier.

New Jersey state lottery law allows the winner to remain publicly anonymous.

Friday’s winner could be one of the last before the lottery game undergoes a “major overhaul” next spring.

Mega Millions announced in October that it would eliminate $2 lottery tickets and increase prizes to $5 per ticket. The new price is expected to include higher cash prizes starting in April.