The 2nd largest Powerball jackpot of all times worth $768 million has been claimed by Manuel Franco from Wisconsin. The 24-year-old is now a lottery legend. He is the 3rd biggest lottery winner in the world.
Manuel Franco – A Winner Story
How did this happen? Mr. Franco has been playing the lottery for quite some time now. In fact, it was when he turned 18 that he got his very first Powerball ticket and has been a regular player for all these years.
On March 27, 2019, Mr. Franco felt very lucky. He went into a Speedway store and he purchased $10.00 worth of individual Powerball tickets. He told the press that ever looked at the camera when he did. He felt so lucky that day that he wanted to wink at it.
As it turns out, his lucky mood was, in fact, a premonition because he actually won the enormous $768 million jackpot. “I was going insane,” he said. “My heart started racing. I screamed for about 5 or 10 minutes.” He also said that his father cried a lot when he found out the good news.
Mr. Franco went into work the following day, but he felt very anxious all day. He said that it was the last time he went to his job.
Since then, he has been getting ready to claim the Powerball jackpot. The state of Wisconsin does not allow lottery winners to remain anonymous, so he did not have much of a choice with that.
Claiming the Jackpot
He chose the lump sum payout for his jackpot, netting $477 million. This left him with $326 million after paying the due taxes on his win. From now on, Manuel Franco has a lot of planning to do because this is one fortune that opens virtually all the doors out there.
“I want to take a break, let it sink in,” he said. “I do want to help out the world but I want to make sure my future is secure.” He said he plans to live his life as normal as possible and he is sure that he will not end up being one of those lottery winners who go bankrupt after only a few years.