While the Powerball jackpot soars, meet the past billionaire winners

The record Powerball jackpot continues to climb, with no winners emerging from Monday's drawing.

The jackpot is now $1.4 billion, the fourth highest in the game's history. Lotto fever has gripped the country as ticket sales soar. Players are snagging tons of smaller prizes, but the big one remains unclaimed.

The winner won't be the first billionaire to match all the drawn Powerball numbers from the ticket. Whatever the jackpot turns out to be, they'll join a tiny pantheon of the luckiest Powerball players ever.

Past billionaire Powerball winners

There have been five Powerball winners who scored a jackpot of over $1 billion. They are:

1. Edwin Castro, 30, from Altadena, California, won the top record of $2.04 billion on November 7, 2022.
2. Theodorus Struyck, 65, represented a group that won the $1.76 billion jackpot on October 11, 2023.
3. Marvin and Mae Acosta of California, Maureen Smith, David Kaltschmidt from Florida, and John and Lee Robinson of Tennessee all hit the $1.586 billion jackpot separately and split the proceeds from a January 2016 drawing.
4. Cheng and Duanpen Saephan and Laiza Chao, a group of winners living in Oregon, landed the $1.326 billion Powerball jackpot in April 2024.
5. Yanira Alvarez of California won the $1.08 jackpot on July 13, 2023.

The winner of the current jackpot will be the latest addition to this list. How much they win depends on when we see a winner. So far, the jackpot has rolled over 42 times, which meets the highest record of rollovers from the Oregon 2024 win. The current run will be the highest amount of rollovers ever by the next drawing on September 3.

After taxes, the prizes are much smaller

Winners typically take home a much smaller prize after taxes, however. At $1.4 billion, the current jackpot take-home could be something like $447.6 million or less, depending on relevant tax law. In an annuity option, the monthly installment could drop from $43.3 million to $27.3 million.

What the big jackpot means

When the jackpot gets into the billions, lotto fever is in the air.

Hopeful players swarm their local retailers to buy Powerball tickets - including many who never played the lottery before. Sales have surged since June 2025, when the current jackpot started swelling.

In Iowa, the Iowa Lottery CEO and Powerball Product Group Chair Matt Strawn has seen epic numbers. The sales boost was a much-needed lift in a year when lottery sales had been flagging across the country. He told Lottery USA:

There is no question; Iowans are responsibly enjoying taking their shot at a billion-dollar win as the Iowa Lottery is seeing its strongest week of Powerball sales in well over a year. It doesn't get any bigger than an estimated Powerball grand prize exceeding one billion dollars.

Not only is the grand prize extremely appealing, but it means there are tons of lesser prizes to win.

To win the jackpot, you must match all five white draw numbers and the additional red Powerball.

For a second-tier prize of $1 million, players only need to match five balls, and for an extra $1, they'll double their prize to $2 million using the Power Play feature.

Other prizes include $50,000 for matching four balls plus the Powerball. This amount can be increased to $500,000 using a Power Play feature that multiplies the winnings by 10.

Most states have never seen a billion-plus Powerball winner. Strawn is hoping the winner comes from the Hawkeye state:

Over 30 years ago, Iowa was among the founding states in the Powerball game, a game designed to give lottery players in small population states an opportunity to play for big lotto jackpots. It would be amazing to see the game return to its roots and have the winning ticket sold to an Iowa Lottery player.