The life of the biggest lottery winners is as uncertain as to the game itself. Winning millions can definitely change one’s life, and evidently, it has done so. There are thousands of people around the world who have had the fortune of adding their names in the history of the biggest lottery winners, which is quite an essential mark. Since the game of lottery always remains a thing of chance, it is a thing of great fortune to be chosen among thousands of others and wins millions!
In this discussion, we are going to have a look at how these wins changed the life of some of the iconic lottery winners, and where they are now. Let us discuss in detail and find out.
Andrew Jackson Whittaker
Jackson was an American businessman in the construction industry. He was well known for winning the 2002 lottery jackpot of US$314.9 million. It was for the Powerball multi-State lottery, which is among the biggest online lottery jackpot ever won by a single winning ticket in the history of America lottery.
Even before winning the lottery, we have been the president of Diversified Enterprises construction, which is a contracting company in West Virginia. He already had a network of over 70 million dollars before the windfall. He was never a regular lottery player but purchased the ticket because the jackpot was so high. The jackpot that Christmas day was around 314.9 million dollars, which is quite a big figure. However, Whittaker decided not to go for the annuity option and opted for the cash option of the jackpot after taxes.
Later in his life, he had several issues with the law and personal tragedies after winning the lottery, which was quite controversial.
Michael Carroll
Michael was the winner of €9,736,131 UK national lottery jackpot in November 2002. Soon after the jackpot results were declared, he said that he would not be tempted to spend all his money on extraordinary living, but he always wanted a simple one. It was one of the biggest jackpots of all time that fell to Michael’s path. In 2010, the winner decided to go back to the working force and continue with the regular job. Consequently, times changed, and the winner of one of the biggest lotteries of all time squandered his little fortune.
Soon after winning the jackpot, he revealed that he is not interested in spending the money lavishly, and intended at buying the house of his dreams near a lake. As an ardent fan of Rangers, Carroll invested up to 7 million pounds of his total winnings through Rangers financial management that receives the share of profit from the financial services the company sells.
Nevertheless, he is counted among the biggest and most popular lottery winners in the history of lottery games to have won millions and hit the biggest jackpots in the history of the UK national lottery.
Colin and Christine Weir
Back in 2011, Colin and Christine Weir became the winners of one of the biggest jackpots in British history, and two of Scotland’s richest people when they bagged €161 million. Mrs. Wier, who is a psychiatric nurse, and Mr. Weir, who is a TV cameraman and studio manager were added to the Sunday Times rich list after they won.
The jackpot came as a big change in their regular lives as they were now able to splash out on holidays, and clear all their debts. The couple also donated over € 3 million to the SNP party as charity work. However, they also launched a philanthropic venture to support Scottish charity and groups to help the local communities.
Adrian and Gillian Bayford
The couple won € 148 million in 2012 when they won one of the biggest lotteries of all time. After their win, the couple confessed that financial security can be in abundance, and there would be no worries at all.
However, the time was short-lived, and the pair decided to return to work. They invested heavily in property and went on to own a store that sells music and film-related memorabilia items. Since the amount they won was in millions, it was a huge sum, they thought that it could have been used more intelligently.
Sue Richards
Sue Richards bagged € 3 million from a scratch card and became one of the highly prestigious winners of the UK’s biggest lottery in 2016. As the winner of millions, she ultimately decided to spend the cash on a new home and four new cars and all other essential expenses that were always left behind. Two years back in 2018, she celebrated the mark anniversary of her grand win, which, no doubt, is recorded in the histories of the biggest lottery wins anyone has ever had.
However, she has always been in the headlines for her unusual yet equally interesting way of celebrating her win. Usually, most of the lottery winners crack open the fizz when they have a big win, but Sue Richards, along with her husband went one step further and cut a bottle design into their garden. The couple also used some of the winnings to invest in a housing association property for €750,000, which is known to cover a third of an acre!
According to the reports, the winner got her winning scratch from your local supermarket on the way home from her night shift. However, she still continues to work as a care worker, which was her job before she won the lottery.
Final thoughts
The game of Lottoland lottery is no less than a roller coaster ride. It can take a person to the extremes and also get the things upside down. For similar reasons, there have been a lot of such people who have made great fortunes out of lotteries and still continue to live a good life. The ones that we just saw are just a few examples of such fortunate people who went on the top of this game of chances!
