Lottery winners are rare lucky ones, most of whom had a hard time in life. Many fortune lovers have actually been fighting for survival for a long time, and therefore the long-awaited win that will solve all their financial problems is incredible happiness and the ultimate dream. But lotteries have their own dark side. Many winners end up worse off than they were before they were rich, getting into debt, getting divorced, getting involved in dangerous adventures, and, worst of all, sometimes even dying because of the cherished check. As they say, the more money, the more problems. This compilation is an edifying example and a warning of how easy winning can lead to disastrous consequences.
25. Mary Holmes
Mother-of-4 Mary Holmes was working at Wal-Mart when "random" numbers on a lottery ticket won her $188 million. The incredible amount was the 5th biggest win in US Lottery history. Soon, the life of an American woman was destroyed by a series of wrong financial decisions and courts - her boyfriend had to be pulled out of prison every now and then, and only $ 21 million was officially spent on legal costs and bail. All this seriously affected the emotional state of the girl and almost completely emptied her pockets. And then Mary found out that the numbers on her ticket weren't random. The ticket was not hers at all. In fact, the mother of the woman won the lottery, but she secretly gave her daughter a winning ticket to help Mary in her difficult life.
24. Curtis Sharp
Photo: twitter
Curtis Sharp's finest hour came in 1982 when he won $5 million. The man lost all his money in just 5 years, spending about a million dollars a year on his family, cars, real estate and women. Today, Mr. Sharp is a clergyman in the church of Antioch, Tennessee (Antioch, Tennessee), and the humble American advises other lottery winners to take a break, go somewhere for a while to clear their minds, and only then start spending their millions.
23. Michael Carrol
Photo: twitter
19-year-old Michael Carroll had already become a petty criminal by his young age and even wore a police bracelet on his leg (tracking system). The guy also managed to raise $14 million from several lottery wins, which raised suspicions of fraud among law enforcement agencies. Michael was nicknamed Lotto Lout (lottery boor or redneck) and became famous for buying himself an expensive mansion and other luxuries, terrorizing his neighbors, and throwing money around like garbage. Soon the unemployed youth went bankrupt and moved to live with his mother. Today, Michael is barely earning $300 a week (not much in the US) at a confectionery factory and admits that his past lifestyle would certainly bring him to his grave in the near future.
22 Billie Bob Harrell Jr.
Photo: Pixabay.com
In 1997, Billy Bob Harrell Jr. thought his torment was finally over. The man won 30 million dollars and was going to live happily ever after. He quit his job, took his family on vacation to Hawaii, bought houses for family and friends, donated a lot of money to his church and other charities. Unfortunately, Billy got the attention of the bad guys and made a bad deal with a lottery company giving out lump sums. From this cooperation, Mr. Harrell received less in the end than he invested. After his divorce from his wife, Billy went downhill and ended up shooting himself. Before he died, he told his financial adviser that winning the lottery was the worst thing that had ever happened to him.
21. Tondra Lynn Dickerson
Photo: Pixabay.com
20. Andrew Jack Whittaker
Photo: Ross Catrow / flickr
Andrew Whittaker won an incredible amount - as much as 315 million dollars, despite the fact that at the time of his luck he already had 17 million of his own funds. Even giving a lot of money to charity, the man could not avoid problems. He was robbed several times, and in the end it completely devastated the bank account of the "lucky one". During this time, several members of the Whittaker family died, including his mother, granddaughter, and her boyfriend. 4 years after the win, the man was completely ruined and absolutely unhappy.
19. Steve Granger
Photo: Wikipedia Commons.com
Steve Granger won $900,000, but after taxes he only had $600,000 left. The man set aside most of it for retirement for himself and his wife, but because of the money, the couple was constantly harassed and bullied. At parties, people sarcastically said: "Here are the lottery players." Crowds of strangers offered Steve to invest his money in gold mining or other dubious business, and someone in the middle of the street constantly tried to at least touch Mr. Granger in order to recharge his luck on winning. The family was not given any rest. It remains to be hoped that over time this glory has passed, and the Grangers have been forgotten.
18. Roger and Laura Griffiths (Roger and Laura Griffiths)
Photo: twitter
After winning £1.8 million (approximately $2.3 million), Roger and Laura Griffiths got too caught up in wasting unexpected money. The Griffiths bought a new house and decided to pursue their dream of becoming business owners. But after Laura accused Roger of treason, the man left her, saying that they were ruined and even mired in big debts.
17. Jeffrey Dampier
Photo: twitter
After an incredible $20 million lottery win, Jeffrey started his own business and founded a gourmet popcorn company. He also gave gifts to his relatives, including his sister-in-law Victoria Jackson (Victoria Jackson), with whom Jeffrey had an affair. In 2005, Victoria and her boyfriend tied up and robbed Dampier. But this was not enough - during the raid, Miss Jackson's boyfriend pointed a gun at her and said: "Kill him or I will kill you." Victoria had to kill Geoffrey with a shot in the back of the head...
16 Callie Rogers
Photo: Wikipedia Commons.com
At the tender age of 16, Caillie hit the big jackpot by winning £1,875,000 (approximately $2,847,000) in the lottery. At first, the girl said that she would not waste money right and left, and would simply buy a normal car and a new house. However, when emotions subsided, and prudence came to naught, Caillie spent a lot of money on cocaine and plastic surgery. Now she has hardly a few thousand pounds left, the girl is raising 3 children and studying to be a nurse.
15. Willie Hurt
Photo: Victor / flickr
In 1991, Willie Hart was a loving husband and father of 3 who won $3.1 million. But after an incredible luck in the lottery, his life completely spiraled out of control - the man got hooked on cocaine and killed a man. Hart's lawyer told the press that his client was penniless and was going through divorce proceedings.
14. Evelyn Adams
Photo: Chemical Heritage Foundation
Evelyn Adams was unspeakably lucky when in 1985 and in 1986 she won the lottery twice, earning a total of about 5.4 million dollars. But the woman did not know how to say “no” to her inner demons and other people, and therefore, in the end, she was completely ruined. After 20 years, an American woman lives in a trailer, having spent all the winning money on parties, alcohol and casinos.
13. Thomas and Denise Rossi (Thomas and Denise Rossi)
Photo: Pixabay.com
Denis Rossi won $ 1.3 million in the lottery, but she was in no hurry to share her joy with everyone, but rather kept the incident a secret. A few days later, she filed for divorce from her husband, with whom she had been married for 25 years. Later, the woman explained that she simply did not want to share her winnings with Thomas. However, the judge decided that Denis should give all 1.3 million to her husband, because she hid the money and behaved like a malicious fraudster.
12 Willie Seeley
Photo: twitter
11 Ronnie Music Jr.
Photo: Andrew Malone / flickr
Ronnie hit the big jackpot by winning $3 million in the lottery. However, he failed to manage this amount wisely. The man invested in the methamphetamine trade, which eventually led to his arrest, and now Ronnie faces a life sentence.
In 2006, Abraham Shakespeare won $30 million, and since then the man has been surrounded by people who have done nothing but take advantage of his wealth. Abraham gave a lot of money to charity and just selflessly helped people. A woman named Doris "Dee Dee" Moore (Dorice "Dee Dee" Moore) invited him to write a book about how others are trying to cash in on the lucky, and Abraham agreed to a creative collaboration. As a result, Doris became Shakespeare's financial advisor and gained control of all his property and money. When Abraham realized what had happened, he threatened to kill the fraudster, but she got ahead of him ... Dee Dee shot the angry "client" several times in the chest. As a result, Miss Moore was arrested and is now serving a life sentence.
9 Joseph and Ibi Roncaioli
Photo: Public Domain Pictures
Dr. Joseph Roncaioli and his wife Ibi were already doing well when they won $5 million in the lottery. Neighbors always considered them a happy elderly couple. However, the supposedly impeccable lifestyle of the old people changed when Joseph found out that Ibi gave 5 million to her secret son and spent all the rest, which they had saved together all their lives. Joseph was so broken that he killed his wife with a poisoned needle. The man claimed that he gave Ibi injections because of her poor health, but the accusers did not believe his lies, and Mr. Roncaioli received 7 years in prison.
8. Alex and Ronda Toth (Alex and Ronda Toth)
Photo: CafeCredit.com / flickr
Alex and Rhonda Toth struggled to make ends meet when they won the lottery in 1990. Alex received disability benefits, and Rhonda worked as a nurse. They could barely feed themselves and could not even buy the cheapest car for $200, and they simply needed personal transport. Once Alex wanted to buy a lottery ticket, and Rhonda believed that they could not afford such unreasonable waste. The man bought that ticket anyway, leaving only $24 in the family budget. The couple ended up winning $13 million, but the blessing of fabulous wealth somehow turned into a nightmarish curse. Children who abandoned them immediately appeared in their lives, greedy for the easy money of the once distressed parents. One of the relatives even tried to kill Alex and Rhonda. 10 years after winning, the Toths are back in the news for serious allegations of tax evasion. Together, Alex and Rhonda owed the state $2 million and could end up in jail for 24 years. The couple was broke and moved to live with their children. Before Alex was sentenced for tax fraud, he died due to his longstanding health problems at the age of 60.
7. Urooj Khan
Photo: R. de Salis
Yurui immigrated to the US from India in 1989 and opened his own dry cleaners in Chicago. A few years later, he bought a winning lottery ticket and could have received $1 million, but opted for a one-time payment that left only $424,000 of the six-figure amount after taxes. Alas, Yurui never saw his money, because he died a day after he was given a check for the coveted prize. A fierce struggle began for a sudden inheritance - the daughter and stepdaughter refused to share the money of the deceased among themselves and were even going to sue. The authorities believe that the man was poisoned with cyanide, but for 4 years the police have not planted anyone, and the investigation into this case is still considered open.
6 Janite Lee
Photo: flickr
In 1993, Janita Lee won $18 million and opted for a lump sum payment. The woman did something rather extraordinary with the money, distributing the bulk of it to charitable organizations. Ms. Lee also made large contributions to the US Democratic Party, and this allowed her to dine with Bill Clinton himself and Vice President Al Gore. Janita's name is listed in the reading room of the Washington University School of Law. However, in 8 years, the woman spent all her savings, and by 2001 she had only $ 700 in her bank account, and had a debt of 2.3 million behind her. Naturally, Janita had to declare herself bankrupt.
5. Jane Park
Photo: twitter
At the age of 17, Jane won £1 million ($1,303,600) and the first thing she did was buy herself a fashionable Louie Vuitton bag. The waste did not end there, and as a result, the girl brought herself to depression, lost the meaning of life and accused the representatives of the lottery company of ruining her life. However, the corporation claims that the payouts for the winnings were made on a long-term basis so that Park could manage her money wisely, which means that she herself is to blame for the unreasonable waste.
4. Amanda Clayton
Photo: Pexels.com
Despite winning $737,000, Amanda Clayton continued to use food stamps and free health insurance for the poor. When Miss Clayton was convicted of fraud, she was given a suspended sentence (9 months). In 2012, Amanda was found dead - the girl died from a drug overdose.
3. William Post
Photo: Pixabay.com
When William Post won $16 million, he thought his life would finally get better. But in fact, with the advent of money, his problems had only just begun. After 3 months of unsuccessful investments and spending on expensive things, William not only squandered all the winnings, but also owed almost $500,000. But this is not the most unpleasant thing ... Mr. Post's brother hired a hitman to get rid of a suddenly enriched relative and his sixth wife. But the attempt failed, and William's brother went to prison. Subsequently, Mr. Post admitted more than once that he was much happier before winning the jackpot, and in 2006, the American died of respiratory arrest at the age of 66.
2. David Lee Edwards
Photo: Pixabay.com
David Lee Edwards, a former prisoner from Kentucky, won $27 million in Powerball lottery prize money and decided he needed the help of financial advisors to properly manage the incredible sum. However, instead of taking the advice of experts, the man, along with his wife, spent all the money on luxury goods and drugs. Due to addiction to drugs, the couple contracted hepatitis, and 12 years later, at the age of 58, David died in a hospice. The man's financial adviser claims that if Mr. Edwards listened to him, he could earn $ 85,000 a month through smart investments.
1. Don Cruz
Photo: Wikipedia Commons.com
Don Cruz was the winner of the American television show HGTV Dream Home Sweepstakes, and was one of the few winners who tried to live in the prize house. The man became a prime example of why this was not worth doing. Mr. Cruise's family had to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in taxes and even put the ill-fated house up for auction in order to pay off all the debts in which the "lucky ones" were mired because of the prize mansion.
Source: getty
South Carolina Lucky Ticket Holder Wins $1.6 Billion in Mega Millions Lottery (about 105 billion rubles - Translator's note), hitting the biggest jackpot in US history.
For the winner, such money will change a lot - including his political views.
A study published in 2014 on the lottery winners in the UK found that after they were given unheard-of wealth, they clearly changed their political preferences.
After studying data from the British Household Panel Survey, which included more than 25,000 British adults, the researchers noted a change in the views of lottery winners (between 1996 and 2009).
In total, 4,277 people from the survey participants won large sums in the lottery. The survey asked them to rate their political views on a scale of one to seven, with one representing unreserved support for the Labor left and seven representing the right-wing Conservatives on the British political spectrum.
Winning more than £500 ($645) shifted people's views about 0.13 points to the right on the scale, equivalent to a 2 percent shift towards conservative views.
At first glance, not such a big change. But if we compare it with the influence on the views of other factors, say, the education received, then it is very significant.
Completing a secondary education by age 18 shifts a person to the right by 4% on the political spectrum compared to those who did not receive such an education, according to the study.
In addition, it is worth emphasizing that the larger the lottery win, the stronger the shift to the right, the more conservative the person becomes.
The connection between the amount of money in the account and right-wing conservative preferences in politics has long been known, but the fact is that it is rather difficult to isolate the influence of individual factors on this - say, the values that people absorb when they grow up, or the views of the social circle in which they fall .
Lottery survey data studies show that when you suddenly have a large amount of money in your bank account, your political views change perceptibly - regardless of your background, previous experience and previous preferences.
Why this is happening, why such a shift to the right is not very clear. But part of that may be due to a new sense of self-righteousness in the money, says Nattawood Paudthavi, a behavioral scientist at the Warwick Business School and one of the study's co-authors:
It would seem that everyone understands this: if you have earned money through hard and hard work, you feel that you have every right to them. But we didn't expect people to feel the same way about winning the lottery.
Because of this attitude towards money won, these people become more opposed to the redistribution of money in society through taxes, Paudthavi emphasizes.
Incredible Facts
Every week millions of participants seek to get tickets for various lotteries, which can bring a huge fortune.
Tickets for these lottos can be purchased at local stores or through Internet sites for little money. But you can win a huge number of banknotes which attracts millions of people around the world.
Who are they - lottery winners who have already hit their jackpot? How do they spend the money they win? And in general: do these amounts bring happiness?
Win by truck number
The first millionaire on our list is the 58-year-old Stephen Chica, whose winnings amounted to 1 million pounds. The lucky man bought a lottery ticket at a supermarket where he went shopping with his father in a private truck (Stephen is a truck driver).
And he just rewrote the lucky ticket number with the license plate of your truck.
Winning ticket brought 14 houses
Roy Gibney from England, city of Grimsby, won 7.5 million pounds. With this money he bought 14 houses close to hometown. In the best mansion he bought, he settled himself, enjoying his own green terraces, a casino, a jacuzzi, a lake, a gym, summer houses and a lake in which he fishes.
By order of a multimillionaire, they built in his garden huge chessboard where he plays an ancient game with his friends. And next to it is a pool, at the bottom of which you can see big numbers his winning number.
Winnings donated to charity
However, the lady gave the lion's share of her winnings to various funds of charitable organizations, namely, for good purposes, she spent 26 million pounds. Let's hope Margaret's kindness is appreciated.
The electrician won the lottery and went on a trip
In 2014 Matt Miles won the lottery at the age of 28 1 million pounds. Before that, he worked as an electrician, and after he got rich, he opened his own business with his brother. But first, Matt decided to have fun by traveling to Indonesia, Brazil and the United States.
The driver won money and spent everything on cars
And this is already Sharon Tirabassi - a single mother who lived in a small rented house and worked as a bus driver. But that's the life she had until Sharon won more 10.5 million dollars.
After the woman became a millionaire, she got a big house, several expensive cars, and she also began to wear exclusively branded clothes. In Sharon's house, parties became a frequent occurrence, she fell in love with traveling.
Unfortunately money is fast are over. Now the woman is a bus driver again and lives in a modest house. However, she managed to deposit undisclosed sums into her six children's accounts.
Winner's Greed
In 1993 Susan Mullins became the owner $4.2 million thanks to one of the lottery draws. However, this case was unprecedented in that the woman did not want to withdraw the entire amount at once, but took it in parts for several years.
Susan became so accustomed to a luxurious life that her needs increased, and the money given out became sorely lacking. She borrowed large sums of money. When Susan's own $4.2 million dried up, the bank she borrowed money from sued her. for 154 million dollars!
Big scavenger win
Working as a scavenger Mike Carroll won the lotto in 2002 15 million dollars. Then Mike completely relaxed and plunged into the world of entertainment, expensive cars, dissolute life and cocaine. But, as you know, money loves an account. Wealth was enough for the lucky man exactly for 5 years.
Now Mike Carroll is back to work as a scavenger.
The real gain that ruined a man
Billy Harrpel was a preacher in one of the churches and worked in a hardware store. He asked God for good luck for a long time, and apparently his prayers were answered: Billy won the loto 31 million dollars.
With this fortune, he bought up several expensive houses and cars. However, because of the money started argue relatives with him. As a result, the preacher went bankrupt and divorced his wife, after which laid hands on himself.
Divorce after winning
lottery win Denise Rossi made up 1.3 million dollars. Already at that time, Denise and her husband were on bad terms, and after a big win, she decided to quickly divorce without telling her husband anything.
But the husband turned out to be "not a miss" and immediately suspected something. For two years he collected evidence that his ex-wife had deceived him, and filed a lawsuit.
Denise Rossi's ex-husband sued all 1.3 million dollars.
Many of us are skeptical about lotteries, gambling, large lotteries: someone believes that everything is set up there and only “our own” win, someone does not trust luck, someone believes that money can only be earned, and who disappointed in my own experience. But, one way or another, there are lucky ones who have become owners of tidy sums in a second. Next, we will tell you about them.
The biggest wins in Russia
Telling the stories of lottery winners in Russia, let's touch on Gosloto statistics. Its choice is not accidental - after all, it was here on February 28, 2016 that the largest amount in the history of our country was won. Anonymous from Novosibirsk received 358,358,566 rubles! It is clear that the name of the newly-made owner of more than three hundred million rubles was not disclosed. It is known that this lucky person made a bet of 1,800 rubles in an ordinary lottery kiosk in his city.
Now the winners of the lotteries, the last ones in Russia ("Gosloto 6 out of 45"). The rating is presented in descending order of the winning amount.
- On August 9, 2014, during the drawing of the 915th draw, the lucky one from Nizhny Novgorod became the owner of 202 million in Russian currency.
- 02/10/2014 Omsk won more than 184 million rubles - the 915th lottery draw was held.
- On December 31, 2011, a Muscovite and a resident of Pyatigorsk received New Year's gifts - more than 152 million rubles were divided between them.
- On September 18, 2012, the super prize of the 477th draw, amounting to 152 million Russian rubles, was divided among 4 winners.
- On May 29, 2015, a Kaliningrader, a participant in the 1336th draw, received a prize of more than 126 million rubles.
- On January 30, 2015, two big winners of the 1138th draw were determined: a resident of the Murmansk region with a bet of 2,800 rubles - his prize was more than 102 million rubles, and a resident of the Stavropol Territory, who won more than 101 million Russian rubles, betting only 1,800 rubles.
- On June 1, 2013, two winners of the 585th draw were announced: a resident of Volgograd, the newly minted owner of 60 million rubles, and a resident of Perm, who became the owner of the equivalent amount.
Lottery winners in Russia, their fate. Case 1
In 2001, a Ufa family became the winner of the Bingo Show draw - they received 29 million rubles. By the way, the lucky ones were unemployed. Rejecting all reasonable ideas of spending the amount, Ufa residents have chosen alcohol as the main item of their expenses. They also constantly lent large sums of money, helped their acquaintances to repay loans. As a result, the winnings evaporated in just 5 years. The lucky ones themselves admitted that big money did not bring them happiness.
Case 2
35 million in Russian currency, "Gosloto" - the winner was 51-year-old Muscovite Yevgeny Sidorov, a mechanic by profession. His lucky bet is only 580 rubles. Eugene, unlike the first case, spent the amount exemplarily - he left with his family for the Lipetsk region, built a house in his native village, repaired a rural road, opened a farm specializing in carp breeding.
Case 3
Having staked 120 rubles in the Sportloto draw, the 42-year-old Voronezh resident suddenly became the owner of 42 million rubles. He disposed of the amount altruistically: he shared most of it with friends and relatives to help their material dreams come true, the rest he spent on repairing his home and household expenses.
Case 4
In 2009, 36-year-old Albert Begrakyan, a resident of the Leningrad Region, won 100 million rubles at Gosloto. He spent the amount on what, according to many, is called a beautiful life: he bought several apartments in the center of St. Petersburg, a Lexus car, and a land plot in the Krasnodar Territory. The winner shared 12 million with his family. But the man did not calculate his expenses a little: not only was the round sum completely spent in two years, but he also owed the state 4.5 million rubles, because he did not pay the tax in full for his big win. Therefore, now part of Albert's property has been arrested, and he himself has been banned from traveling abroad.
Case 5
The result of a bet of 180 rubles for Valery from Omsk was a win of 184 million units of the same currency. The incident happened in February 2014. At the same time, the organizers could not contact the winner for several days - he was so shocked by the news that he sat at home for three days without communicating with anyone. The 48-year-old builder made a promise from journalists that details about him should not be disclosed to the press. He only shared his plans - the lucky man wanted to spend the amount on buying a house on the sea coast in warm regions.
By the way, the big Russian winnings are still far from the world ones. The record is $365 million won by a resident of Nebraska (USA) in the Powrball game held in 2006.
Jackpot in the "Golden Horseshoe"
Real lottery winners in Russia sometimes share their stories in great detail. Evgenia and Dmitry, residents of the city of Svetlograd, Stavropol Territory, won the jackpot of 3.5 million rubles in the Golden Horseshoe lottery - 5 numbers matched.
The family got the ticket as a gift - Evgenia's parents gave her a "lottery ticket" for March 8th. When she saw that she had crossed out all five announced first figures, she could not immediately believe what had happened - she cried and laughed at the same time. Until the money was transferred to their account, the Svetlograd lottery winners in Russia did not believe that this was a real prize. Eugenia shares that she was also not rightfully the owner of the entire amount - 13% is sent to the state treasury as income tax.
The family of Dmitry and Evgenia is large, and at the time of winning their financial situation was not the best - loans, debts, as they recently bought a new house. Therefore, part of the won amount was spent on repayment of debts. The family also bought an apartment in Stavropol, changed their car to a more comfortable one. The win also encouraged Evgenia and Dmitry to start their own business: Svetlograd lottery winners in Russia opened their own printing salon, a small pet store.
Speaking about fame after a monetary victory, Evgenia shares that for a long time strangers from all over the country wrote to her page in Odnoklassniki - they asked about the reality of winning. In my small hometown, the news also spread quickly: someone right on the street came up with congratulations, someone asked to borrow money. Many rushed to buy lottery tickets.
The winner says that winning her at first motivated her to buy new "lotteries", but since large sums no longer fell out, she abandoned this idea.
lottery winner mistakes
Let's share the most depressing stories:
- William Bud Post III, who won $16 million in 1998, did not take into account that he had an extremely envious brother. The latter hired a hitman to kill a relative and his wife in order to take the winnings. Fortunately for the couple, the attempt failed.
- Improving your wealth by beating Billy Bob Harell, who hit the $31 million jackpot, suddenly became a bad habit. He bought and bought houses, cars. When the poor fellow noticed that he had lost the entire amount in 2 years, he found a way out of the situation only in suicide.
- Evelyn Adams, the owner of a winnings of $ 5 million, lost most of them in a casino in Atlantic City (USA).
- Ron Jurkus bought a lottery ticket, threw it in his desk drawer and forgot about the purchase. Parsing unnecessary papers three months later, for the sake of interest, he checked the overdue "lottery" - at one time it would have brought him $ 1 million.
- José Antonia Cua-Toc won $750,000 in the lottery in 2014, a huge amount for an illegal immigrant. But due to fear of problems with the law, the lucky man gave the ticket to his boss, asking him to transfer the winnings to him. The latter, as expected, took the money for himself. Only a series of trials helped restore justice.
Lottery winners in Russia, as you have seen, are real people, in some cases they do not hide their names. Although an example of their luck may inspire the purchase of lottery tickets, we must remember that Lady Luck is a very capricious and unpredictable lady.
Each of us hopes that he will be lucky. Someone is making efforts for this, investing strength, money and brains. And someone just goes and buys a lottery ticket - and ... the jackpot!
There is a category of people who constantly play all sorts of lotteries. There are those who received a ticket as a gift, while others were simply given it as change. Winnings always come suddenly, no matter how the ticket was purchased. And most often a person is not ready for the happiness that has washed over him. Or misfortune?
Willie Seely, $450,000,000
Here is another example of how everyone, who is not lazy, bite off someone else's holiday cake. Willie Seeley and his wife won almost half a billion dollars. But I had to share with the lottery, the tax, another fifteen people who took part in the purchase of this ticket ...
As a result, the Seely couple got only 4 million. But even this amount was more than enough for a family not spoiled by luxury. Willy quit his job, the family moved to a nice house, where everything that they had only dreamed of before was bought.
But even though the family seems to be doing well, both Willy and his wife believe that money has become their curse. From the moment they win, they live under constant attention from journalists, TV producers, relatives and just strangers. And everyone is asking for money.
Journalists who manage to catch one of the Sealeys ask the same question: "What advice would you give to lottery winners?" The Seeleys respond, "Run."
Jack Whittaker, $415,000,000
The American lottery system works in such a way that if you want to take the whole amount at once, then you are left with about a third.
If you want to get all the money won, then the payments will be stretched over many years. This happened with Jack Whittaker: he did not want to see his money in portions and received $ 114 million instead of 315 won.
Whittaker donated 10 million to charity, and then ended up in court. Litigation sprang up like mushrooms after the rain, with women making accusations of sexual harassment and men accusing them of battery.
All these were acquaintances of Jack, who were going to earn extra money on him. Jack stopped believing in people, became withdrawn, took to drink, started playing in the casino. Relatives used Jack's money with might and main. The granddaughter, seizing on easy money, got hooked on drugs and soon died of an overdose. Jack's business collapsed, he managed to spend all the winnings and his wife left him.
Evelyn Adams, $5,400,000
Twice the projectile does not hit the same funnel - this proverb is not about her. Evelyn won a lot of money twice in just two years and was called the luckiest person of the 20th century. She had $5,400,000 in her piggy bank. But as it came, so it went: Madame managed to lower everything into the One-Armed Jack. Now Evelyn lives in a trailer.
Mike Carroll, $15,000,000
A scavenger from Britain, Mike Carroll, became a millionaire at one point and immediately realized that he deserved more than working as a scavenger. He quit his job and began to enjoy his life, buying high-class escorts, fancy cars and cocaine. 15 million ran out after 5 years and Mike again had to return to work. Fortunately, there is always a shortage of personnel in his profession.
Billy Harrel, $31,000,000
Billy was a Pentecostal church preacher. He earnestly prayed that God would help him with money. The requests were heard and in 1997 Billy became a millionaire.
31 million dollars will turn your head to anyone, and the preacher was no exception. He became interested in expensive cars and mansions, but did not calculate with their maintenance. Immediately a bunch of loving relatives appeared, counting on cash infusions. However, the preacher still had about 12 million ...
