Almost everyone dreams about winning the lottery at some point in their lives, but most never get lucky enough to see those dreams realized. Even if you do manage to hit a jackpot, it's not always a fairy-tale ending.
What To Know: The lottery jackpot total has only crossed the $1 billion mark nine times in history. There were four jackpots in 2023 that climbed above $1 billion, the most recent being the $1.6 billion-plus Mega Millions jackpot, which was claimed in October.
According to Mega Millions, the odds of winning a jackpot are one in 302,575,350. Those lucky enough to actually win get the choice of either taking the cash as a one-time, lump-sum payment or opting for an annual payout.
The annual payments are designed to help "protect winners’ lifestyle and purchasing power in periods of inflation." On the other hand, the immediate cash payment allows the winner to invest the money right away and generate returns on their cash.
The problem is that most people who opt for the lump-sum payment don't plan for the future appropriately. In some cases, winners suffered strings of bad luck following their lottery breakthroughs.
Business Insider gathered a handful of stories from lottery winners who lost it all. Here's a look at what went wrong.
Lottery Winners Go Broke Lara and Roger Griffiths spent their lottery jackpot winnings of $2.76 million in 2005 on a million-dollar house, an expensive car and luxurious trips. But the couple ended up buried in bills after a fire that forced them to gut their home. And Roger, who reportedly never argued with Lara prior to winning the lottery, left her for another woman shortly after. Bud Post won $16.2 million in 1988 and then racked up $1 million in debt within a year after putting a bunch of money into his family business. One of his former girlfriends sued him for a third of his winnings, and his brother was arrested for allegedly hiring a hitman to kill him. "I wish it never happened. It was totally a nightmare ... I was much happier when I was broke," Post reportedly said. Sharon Tirabassi quickly spent her $10-million winnings in 2004 and on a large house, fancy cars, designer clothes, parties, exotic trips and handouts and loans to family and friends. In less than 10 years, she was riding the bus again, working part-time and renting a house to live in. Luckily, she put some of the money in trusts for her kids. Evelyn Adams won the lottery twice in back-to-back years in the 1980s. She ended up winning more than $5 million in total, but she reportedly gambled it all away in Atlantic City. Ibi Roncaioli won $5 million in the 1991 lottery and gave a large portion of the money away without telling her husband. When her husband found out the money went to a secret child she had with another man, he poisoned her and was convicted of manslaughter. He reportedly asked his wife's family to pay for her funeral. Michael Carroll was 19 years of age when he won $15 million in the British lottery in 2002. He blew all of his money on parties, prostitutes, drugs and cars. The report indicates that he ended up trying to get his old job back as a garbage collector after his winnings went up in smoke.
Other stories include a woman who miscalculated her tax bill when she gifted a sum of her winnings to family, a man who was ordered to split winnings with coworkers and a couple who let greed get the best of them.
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