There are many different ways to define the largest ever win as it depends upon whether the winners were part of a lottery syndicate or an individual. One should also note that in the USA winnings are taxable which is another reason to think about buying tickets in UK lotteries.
The indviduals below are probably the bigggest lottery winners.
A. J. Whittaker Junior. from West Virginia, won $314.9 million dollares in the Powerball draw on December 25, 2002. Opting as most large prize winners in the U.S. do for the lump sum, his after-tax prize was $114 million.
G. Williams from Lowell, Mass. is the largest single winner, at $294 million. The $168 million lump sum she opted for was reported as $117.6 million after tax.
Mr and Mrs Lerner of New Jersey also claimed a higher after-tax lump sum than Whittaker in Mega Millions for the September 16, 2005 drawing, as New Jersey then had no state tax on lottery prizes. They chose to receive $156 million in cash instead of the $258 million face value. Then there is a 25 percent federal withholding tax which left them with around $117 million.
The October 19, 2005 Powerball drawing won by nine members of the West and Chaney families of Medford, Oregon was for a larger annuity ($340 million) but a smaller lump sum than Whittaker’s.
On February 22, 2008, Robert and Tayne Harris of Portal, Georgia claimed the only Mega Millions jackpot ticket, with an annuity value of $270 million (cash value $167 million) before taxes. After 25% percent federal withholding and 6% state withholding, they were left with around $115 million.