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It wasn't immediately clear if the winner has come forward yet.
The prize comes in the form of either an annuity of $1 billion
paid over 29 years or a lump-sum payment of $450.5 million.
Winners almost always take the lump sum.
It was the first Powerball jackpot won since May 2, when the top
prize was $20 million, and the first since ticket sales began in
the United Kingdom last month. At $2 per play, the odds of
winning the jackpot are one in 292 million.
The $1.04 billion grand prize was the eighth-largest in
Powerball history, game organizers said. Another lottery game,
Mega Millions has also had a $1 billion jackpot winner.
“Congratulations to our newest Powerball jackpot winner in
Illinois,” Stephen Durrell, chair of the Powerball Product Group
and executive director of the Kansas Lottery, said in a
statement. “For more than three decades, Powerball has shown
that a winning ticket can be sold anywhere the game is played,
giving every $2 ticket the chance to change not only a winner’s
life, but generations to come."
Four tickets sold for Wednesday's drawing — in Arizona,
California, Florida and North Carolina — hit five of the numbers
but missed the Powerball number. They were worth $1 million
apiece. A ticket sold in Massachusetts also matched all the
numbers except the Powerball number, but won $2 million because
of the “Power Play” multiplier option costing an extra $1 per
play.
More than 3 million tickets won lesser cash prizes.
The Powerball jackpot resets to $20 million for the next drawing
on Saturday.
The record lottery jackpot still stands at just over $2 billion,
won with a Powerball ticket purchased in California in 2022.
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