Anonymous Georgia Winner Claims Record $983 Million Mega Millions Jackpot
An anonymous Georgia player has claimed the $983 million Mega Millions jackpot from the November 14, 2025 drawing, the largest lottery prize ever won in the state.
The winner claimed the prize on January 2, 2026 and chose the $453.6 million cash option before taxes.
The Georgia Lottery announced the claim on January 6.
The winning ticket came from Newnan
The winning numbers were 1, 8, 11, 12 and 57, with Mega Ball 7.
Only one ticket matched all six numbers.
The winning Quik Pik was sold at Publix No. 1816 at 4000 N. Highway 29 in Newnan.
Publix qualified for a $50,000 retailer incentive for selling the jackpot winning ticket.
A billboard reminded the winner to play
The Georgia Lottery said the winner regularly plays in part because lottery proceeds support education programs including HOPE and Georgia Pre K.
According to the lottery's account, a billboard displaying the large jackpot reminded the player to buy a ticket.
After hearing that someone had won, the player checked the Georgia Lottery website and saw the winning results.
The billboard did not predict anything or influence the numbers. It simply reminded the eventual winner to participate.
The winner chose the cash option
The final advertised jackpot was $983 million.
The winner selected the cash option of $453.6 million before taxes.
The difference between those figures reflects the distinction between the advertised annuity and the current cash value.
A Mega Millions annuity consists of one initial payment followed by 29 annual payments that increase over time.
A winner who selects cash receives the current cash value of the prize pool instead of the full advertised annuity total.
The winner remained anonymous
Georgia allows winners of at least $250,000 to request confidentiality in writing.
The winner used that option.
The Georgia Lottery did not publish the claimant's name.
The official release said the winner was thinking about future generations and giving back to good causes.
Those points were mainly presented as lottery paraphrases rather than a long first person statement, so they should not be converted into invented quotations.
The largest lottery prize in Georgia history
The $983 million jackpot surpassed Georgia's previous state record.
That previous record was a $478.2 million Powerball jackpot won for the October 23, 2024 drawing.
The $983 million prize also ranked among the largest Mega Millions jackpots in the history of the game.
Ranking language should always be dated because later jackpots can change the list.
The current Mega Millions format applied
The ticket was sold after the 2025 Mega Millions redesign.
A play cost $5.
Players selected five white balls from 1 through 70 and one Mega Ball from 1 through 24.
Each play also received a built in multiplier for prizes other than the jackpot.
The jackpot odds were 1 in 290,472,336.
The Georgia winner's Quik Pik happened to match all six numbers. That result does not make random number selection more likely to win than any other valid combination.