$1.025 BILLION Mega Millions jackpot is 4th largest the world has ever seen

Cash value is $602.5 million

By Todd Northrop

The most commonly-heard phrase this week just might be, "Did you get Mega Millions tickets?"

That's because nobody won the Mega Millions multi-state lottery drawing Tuesday night, sending the Friday jackpot to heights only seen three times before in history.

The multi-state game is now sporting a jackpot of more than $1 billion, with a cash value of nearly two-thirds of a billion dollars.

Friday's Mega Millions jackpot is currently estimated at $1.025 billion, with a lump-sum cash value of $602.5 million. And based on past multi-state lottery jackpots, that estimate may get a lot bigger by the time the drawing kicks off Friday night.

To get to this size, the jackpot has been growing since it started on April 19 as a $20 million prize — now 29 consecutive drawings without a winner.

Friday's billion-dollar Mega Millions jackpot is the 3rd-largest in the game's history, and the 4th-largest lottery jackpot in world history. The largest lottery jackpot ever awarded was on January 13, 2016, when three tickets from California, Florida, and Tennessee shared a $1.6 billion Powerball jackpot. Mega Millions had its largest-ever jackpot — valued at $1.537 billion — awarded to a single winning ticket claimed anonymously in South Carolina.

The lump-sum cash value of $602.5 million is also the 4th-largest on the all-time lottery jackpot cash value rankings (see full list below).

Lottery players dreaming what all the cash will look like in their bank account after federal and state taxes are taken out can see an after-tax analysis of the current Mega Millions jackpot by visiting USA Mega's Mega Millions Jackpot Analysis page. The Jackpot Analysis page has recently been improved to also include the additional taxes that will be due after the initial withholdings, and will even allow players to see the taxes due under different filing statuses.

The rush of ticket sales over the next few days likely will propel the jackpot to an even higher amount before the drawing takes place Friday. Lottery Post and USA Mega will update the jackpot tallies displayed if such an increase occurs.

The quickest way to find the winning numbers after the drawing Friday will be by visiting USA Mega (www.usamega.com) at 11:00 pm Eastern Time (8:00 pm Pacific), when the winning numbers will be published live as they are drawn.

Players looking for the nearest official lottery retailer — or maybe just a different store without such a long line — are urged to use the free Lottery Places app available for iOS, Android, and Windows. The app can find lottery stores in every Mega Millions state and can search across state lines — something even official state lotteries can't do.

Some state lotteries offer online ticket purchases, allowing players to bypass the store completely. Such is the case with Michigan and Virginia. Other states such as Minnesota, Orgeon, and Texas use a state-licensed courier service to enable online purchases. Players outside the USA can use a reputable butler service that delivers scanned images of the lottery tickets to verify the ticket purchase and ownership. In the past, the lottery ticket service was used by people out side the USA to win big jackpots in Oregon and Florida.

In Tuesday night's Mega Millions drawing, there was no jackpot winner, but 9 lucky players matched the first 5 numbers for a $1,000,000 prize: 1 from California, 1 from Florida, 1 from Illinois, 2 from New Jersey, 2 from New York, and 2 from Ohio.

The California second-prize winner will be awarded $2,912,502 instead of the fixed $1 million prize awarded in the other states. By law, California awards all lottery prizes on a pari-mutuel basis, meaning the prizes will change each drawing based on the number of tickets sold within California and the number of tickets that won at each prize level in the state. In this drawing the pari-mutuel prize calculation meant a nearly 3-times larger prize than what the other states award, but sometimes that can mean a smaller prize too.

Out of all the second-prize tickets, only the one from Ohio was purchased with the Megaplier option for an extra $1 per play, multiplying their prize to $3 million because the Megaplier number drawn was 3.

The Megaplier option is not available in California, because the fixed nature of the prize increase offered with the Megaplier is not compatible with California's pari-mutuel payouts.

Also, a total of 156 tickets matched four of the first five numbers plus the Mega Ball to win a $10,000 prize. Of those tickets, 36 were purchased with the Megaplier option, increasing the prize to $30,000, and 22 were sold in California, where the prize awarded this drawing is $12,314.

The Mega Millions winning numbers for Tuesday, July 26, 2022, were 7, 29, 60, 63, and 66, with Mega Ball number 15. The Megaplier number was 3.

Following the Tuesday drawing, the Mega Millions annuity jackpot estimate was raised $195 million from its previous amount of $830 million. The cash value was raised by $114.6 million from its previous amount of $487.9 million.

Mega Millions is currently offered for sale in 45 states, plus Washington, D.C. and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Drawings are Tuesdays and Fridays at 11:00 pm Eastern Time. Tickets cost $2 each.

Top 25 United States lottery jackpots of all time

Friday's Mega Millions jackpot currently stands as the 4th-largest lottery jackpot in world history.  That position may rise before the drawing, as lotteries are typically conservative in their initial estimates, and brisk sales may push the jackpot estimate higher by draw time.

1. Powerball: $1.5864 billion, Jan. 13, 2016 (19 rollovers, starting at $40 million) - California, Florida, Tennessee
2. Mega Millions: $1.537 billion, Oct. 23, 2018 (25 rollovers, starting at $40 million) - South Carolina
3. Mega Millions: $1.05 billion, Jan. 22, 2021 (36 rollovers, starting at $20 million) - Michigan
4. Mega Millions: $1.025 billion, Jul. 29, 2022 (29 rollovers, starting at $20 million) - Preliminary estimate, not won yet
5. Powerball: $768.4 million, Mar. 27, 2019 (25 rollovers, starting at $40 million) - Wisconsin
6. Powerball: $758.7 million, Aug. 23, 2017 (20 rollovers, starting at $40 million) - Massachusetts
7. Powerball: $731.1 million, Jan. 20, 2021 (35 rollovers, starting at $20 million) - Maryland
8. Powerball: $699.8 million, Oct. 4, 2021 (40 rollovers, starting at $20 million) - California
9. Powerball: $687.8 million, Oct. 27, 2018 (21 rollovers, starting at $40 million) - Iowa, New York
10. Mega Millions: $656 million, Mar. 30, 2012 (18 rollovers, starting at $12 million) - Illinois, Kansas, Maryland
11. Mega Millions: $648 million, Dec. 17, 2013 (21 rollovers, starting at $12 million) - California, Georgia
12. Powerball: $632.6 million, Jan 5, 2022 (39 rollovers, starting at $20 million) - California, Wisconsin
13. Powerball: $590.5 million, May 18, 2013 (13 rollovers, starting at $40 million) - Florida
14. Powerball: $587.5 million, Nov. 28, 2012 (15 rollovers, starting at $40 million) - Arizona, Missouri
15. Powerball: $564.1 million, Feb. 11, 2015 (20 rollovers, starting at $40 million) - North Carolina, Puerto Rico, Texas
16. Powerball: $559.7 million, Jan. 6, 2018 (20 rollovers, starting at $40 million) - New Hampshire
17. Mega Millions: $543 million, Jul. 24, 2018 (22 rollovers, starting at $40 million) - California
18. Mega Millions: $536 million, Jul. 8, 2016 (34 rollovers, starting at $15 million) - Indiana
19. Mega Millions: $533 million, Mar. 30, 2018 (23 rollovers, starting at $40 million) - New Jersey
20. Mega Millions: $522 million, Jun. 7, 2019 (24 rollovers, starting at $40 million) - California
21. Mega Millions: $516 million, May 21, 2021 (26 rollovers, starting at $20 million) - Pennsylvania
22. Powerball: $487 million, Jul. 30, 2016 (23 rollovers, starting at $40 million) - New Hampshire
23. Powerball: $473.1 million, Apr. 27, 2022 (30 rollovers, starting at $20 million) - Arizona
24. Powerball: $456.7 million, Mar. 17, 2018 (19 rollovers, starting at $15 million) - Pennsylvania
25. Mega Millions: $451 million, Jan. 5, 2018 (23 rollovers, starting at $15 million) - Florida

For those keeping score, the number of jackpots in the top 25, by lottery game, are:

• Powerball: 14
• Mega Millions: 11

Top 25 cash value jackpots

Since many lottery winners collect their winnings in cash, the lump-sum payout is an important measure of what a winning ticket could be worth.

Looking at the cash value, the upcoming Mega Millions jackpot ranks as the 4th-largest cash value in world history.

1. Powerball: $983.5 million cash, Jan. 13, 2016 ($1.5864 billion annuity) - California, Florida, Tennessee
2. Mega Millions: $877.8 million cash, Oct. 23, 2018 ($1.537 billion annuity) - South Carolina
3. Mega Millions: $776.6 million cash, Jan. 22, 2021 ($1.05 billion annuity) - Michigan
4. Mega Millions: $602.5 million cash, Jul. 29, 2022 ($1.025 billion annuity) - Preliminary estimate, not won yet
5. Powerball: $546.8 million cash, Jan. 20, 2021 ($731.1 million annuity) - Maryland
6. Powerball: $496 million cash, Oct. 4, 2021 ($699.8 million annuity) - California
7. Powerball: $480.5 million cash, Aug. 23, 2017 ($758.7 million annuity) - Massachusetts
8. Powerball: $477 million cash, Mar. 27, 2019 ($768.4 million annuity) - Wisconsin
9. Mega Millions: $471 million cash, Mar. 30, 2012 ($656 million annuity) - Illinois, Kansas, Maryland
10. Powerball: $450.2 million cash, Jan. 5, 2022 ($632.6 million annuity) - California, Wisconsin
11. Powerball: $396.2 million cash, Oct. 27, 2018 ($687.8 million annuity) - Iowa, New York
12. Powerball: $384.7 million cash, Nov. 28, 2012 ($587.5 million annuity) - Arizona, Missouri
13. Powerball: $381.1 million cash, Feb. 11, 2015 ($564.1 million annuity) - North Carolina, Puerto Rico, Texas
14. Mega Millions: $378 million cash, Jul. 8, 2016 ($536 million annuity) - Indiana
15. Powerball: $370.9 million cash, May 18, 2013 ($590.5 million annuity) - Florida
16. Powerball: $352 million cash, Jan. 6, 2018 ($559.7 million annuity) - New Hampshire
17. Mega Millions: $349.3 million cash, May 21, 2021 ($516 million annuity) - Pennsylvania
18. Mega Millions: $347.6 million cash, Dec. 17, 2013 ($648 million annuity) - California, Georgia
19. Powerball: $341.7 million cash, Jul. 30, 2016 ($487 million annuity) - New Hampshire
20. Mega Millions: $340 million cash, Jun. 7, 2019 ($522 million annuity) - California
21. Mega Millions: $324 million cash, Mar. 30, 2018 ($533 million annuity) - New Jersey
22. Mega Millions: $320.5 million cash, Jul. 24, 2018 ($543 million annuity) - California
23. Mega Millions: $319.9 million cash, Jun. 9, 2020 ($414 million annuity) - Arizona
24. Mega Millions: $314.4 million cash, Sep. 21, 2021 ($431 million annuity) - New York
25. Mega Millions: $292.9 million cash, Jan. 28, 2022 ($426 million annuity) - California

The number of cash value jackpots in the top 25, by lottery game, are:

• Powerball: 12
• Mega Millions: 13