Winner of $983 Million Mega Millions Drawing Comes Forward
Thursday January 8th 2026Two months following the astonishing Mega Millions jackpot win in November, the winner has now come forward, claiming one of the biggest Mega Millions jackpots ever, and the largest jackpot ever won in Georgia.
The Biggest Ever Georgia Jackpot Win
The November 14 Mega Millions drawing created more than 1 million winners, but only one jackpot winner. A Georgia resident. And it’s the most prominent jackpot victory The Peach State has ever seen.
The numbers drawn for the Friday night event in November were 1, 8, 11, 12, 57, with a Mega Ball of 7.
As they chose to remain anonymous, we only know a few details about the winner. They have family members who benefited from Georgia’s Lottery-funded HOPE Scholarship, and decided to take part in Mega Millions after seeing a billboard advertising the almost billion dollar jackpot. This decision would turn out to be fateful. Using Quick Pik — an in-store method of picking lottery numbers completely at random — the winner bought their ticket at a Publix in Newnan. This results in the store getting a $50,000 commission for selling the winning ticket, as part of Georgia Lottery’s Retailer Incentive Scheme.
Lottery officials claim to be thrilled “to celebrate Georgia’s record-breaking jackpot winner and their life-changing start to the new year.”
Cash or Annuity?
The winner went for the cash option, which will bank them $453.6 million once taxes and other procedural deductions are accounted for. Deliberately or inadvertently, they timed their claim very well indeed, as The Peach State had lowered its flat state tax rate from 5.19% in 2025 to 5.09% in 2026. This means the winner will avoid roughly $400,000 in state taxes.
What Is Mega Millions?
Mega Millions is the exciting interstate lottery that regularly reaches soaring jackpots. It involves picking six numbers from two separate categories of numbers — five main white balls from 1 to 70, and one gold Mega Ball from 1 to 24. Like Powerball, it’s one of the most accessible and recognizable lottery in the United States.
You can take part by visiting a local lottery retailer, or online in certain states. You can find out everything you need to play confidently at our main Mega Millions page and keep track of the draws at our numbers page, ensuring you never miss a beat.
The Next Jackpot
Mega Millions takes place again on Friday January 9, and drawings take place twice a week, Tuesday and Friday. While the jackpot has reset since the Georgia resident’s epic win, it is still a life-changing sum, and will only grow as the draws roll on.
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