A Mid-Michigan lottery club has claimed the largest Powerball prize ever won in Michigan – an $842.4 million jackpot.
The three-member “The Breakfast Club” lottery club matched all the numbers drawn on January 1, 2024 – 12-21-42-44-49, PB: 01. The winning ticket was purchased at the Food Castle of Grand Blanc, located at 3035 East Grand Blanc Road in Grand Blanc.
Attorney and representative of “The Breakfast Club” Mark K. Harder said this was a first-time large jackpot for the other two members of the lottery club, who typically buy Powerball tickets when the jackpot gets to be hundreds of millions. The morning after the drawing, a club member saw on the news and on social media that the jackpot-winning ticket had been sold at the Food Castle of Grand Blanc and went to check the numbers on his cell phone. When he realized he held the winning ticket, he was so excited he dropped his phone – but he and his wife still went to their respective jobs.
Harder shared: “As you can imagine, the club members have felt so many emotions since realizing their ticket was ‘the one.’ They’ve been elated and overwhelmed, thrilled, and nervous. They’ve gone from shock and sleepless nights to giving careful thought as to how this once-in-a-lifetime event will transform their lives.” “The Breakfast Club” lottery club chose to receive its prize as a one-time lump sum payment of about $425 million rather than annuity payments for the full amount. After required income tax withholdings of 24% federal tax (about $102 million) and 4.25% state tax (about $18 million), the club received about $305 million. With their winnings, they plan to retire earlier than expected, to travel and to share their good fortune with their immediate family and nonprofits close to their hearts. “This prize will positively affect our family for generations to come,” a club member said. “Up until now, we have led a comfortable life and anticipated retiring someday. Now, we’re not financially bound to a specific timetable. The world – and our opportunities – have opened up in some incredible ways. This has been life changing for us.”
For selling the winning ticket, Food Castle of Grand Blanc received a $50,000 bonus commission.
“Selling the winning Powerball ticket has been great for our business,” said Food Castle of Grand Blanc Owner, Bill Nannoshi. “We are going to donate every penny of the $50,000 to our employees and community.”
“On New Year’s Day, the lives of the members of The Breakfast Club lottery club changed forever when they won the $842.4 million Powerball Jackpot,” said Lottery Commissioner, Suzanna Shkreli. “Big jackpots are good news for Lottery retailers, like the Food Castle of Grand Blanc, which will receive a $50,000 bonus commission for selling the winning ticket, and for Michigan schools, which has received more than $1 billion in proceeds from the Lottery in each of the last five years.”
The $842.4 million jackpot is the largest Powerball prize ever won in Michigan, and the second largest Lottery prize ever won in Michigan. A $1.05 billion Mega Millions jackpot won in January 2021 holds the record for the largest jackpot won in Michigan. The last Michigan player to win a Powerball jackpot was Cristy Davis, of Waterford. Davis won the game’s $70 million jackpot on Feb. 12, 2020.