Updated with final jackpot amount and retailer location

By Todd Northrop

After a run of 29 drawings without a jackpot winner, the 30th drawing of the multi-state Mega Millions game produced a single $1.337 billion winner last night when one lottery ticket sold in Illinois matched all five numbers plus the Mega Ball.

It was the fourth time a lottery jackpot had grown to more than $1 billion, and the third time a single ticket won $1 billion or more.

The winner of the unimaginable haul will choose between being paid $1.337 billion in 30 annually-increasing payments over 29 years or the lump-sum cash value of $780.5 million.

According to USA Mega's Mega Millions Jackpot Analysis, after all taxes are paid, the winner either will receive $777.2 million by the end of 29 years, or $453.1 million in cash all at once.

The winning ticket was sold at Speedway #4250, located at 885 E. Touhy Ave. in Des Plaines. The lottery retailer will receive a $500,000 commission for selling the winning ticket.

"Congratulations to the Illinois Lottery for selling the winning ticket for the $1.337 billion Mega Millions jackpot," said Ohio Lottery Director Pat McDonald, currently serving as Lead Director for the Mega Millions Consortium. "We are thrilled to have witnessed one of the biggest jackpot wins in Mega Millions history. We're eager to find out who won and look forward to congratulating the winner soon! Better still, this exciting jackpot run has had a significant positive impact on the revenues for good causes raised by our member lotteries."

Illinois was one of the original founding members of Mega Millions, which was called The Big Game at the time.

The Mega Millions winning numbers for Friday, July 29, 2022, were 13, 36, 45, 57, and 67, with Mega Ball number 14. The Megaplier was 2.

It's hard to imagine the winner getting much sleep Friday night, as they try to process winning such an unimaginably huge lottery jackpot awarded to a single ticket — the one they're holding in their hand.

Millions of lottery players in the USA and around the world are wondering what they are planning to do with all that loot.

What is the first thing you would do?

(Here's what we would do.)

It is unlikely we'll ever know the identity of the winner, because Illinois allows lottery winners to remain anonymous. In 2018, legislation was signed into law allowing winners of lottery prizes $250,000 or more to remain anonymous.  The Illinois Lottery Winner's Handbook summarizes the procedure and limitations of anonymity as follows: "If your prize is $250,000 or more, at the time of claiming the prize, you may submit a written request on the Illinois Lottery Claim form to keep your name and city of residence confidential from public disclosure. However, the Illinois Lottery may release your name and city of residence pursuant to an Illinois Freedom of Information Act request or if legally mandated to do so."

Lottery Post maintains a list of every state's anonymity policies for lottery winners.

Fortunately, even if you didn't win the jackpot, the Mega Millions game still offers another 8 ways to win lower-tier prizes.

In addition to the jackpot winner, a whopping 26 lucky players matched the first 5 numbers for a $1,000,000 prize: 1 from Arkansas (with Megaplier), 1 from California, 5 from Florida (3 with Megaplier), 2 from Georgia, 1 from Iowa (with Megaplier), 1 from Illinois, 1 from Kentucky, 1 from Louisiana, 1 from Michigan, 2 from Minnesota, 2 from North Carolina, 1 from New Hampshire, 1 from New York, 1 from Oklahoma, 2 from Pennsylvania (1 with Megaplier), 2 from Texas, and 1 from Wisconsin.

The second prize-winning tickets that were purchased with the Megaplier option for an extra $1 are now worth $2 million after being multiplied by the Megaplier number of 2.  The California second prize winner will claim a prize of $4,234,962 because unlike all the other Mega Millions states, California awards all prizes on a pari-mutuel basis, meaning the prizes will change each drawing based on the number of tickets sold and the number of tickets that won at each prize level.

375 tickets matched four white numbers plus the Mega Ball and won $10,000. Of those tickets, 68 were purchased with the Megaplier option, increasing the prize to $20,000, and 64 were sold in California, where the prize was $9,167 this drawing.

In total, nearly 14.4 million tickets won prizes across the game's nine prize tiers in Friday's drawing. Apart from the jackpot, there were more than $102 million in prizes awarded last night.

A complete list of payouts for all prizes and the official drawing video can be found at USA Mega's Mega Millions Drawing Information page, as well as at Lottery Post's Mega Millions Prize Payouts page.

The still record-holder for the world's largest lottery jackpot was a $1.5864 billion Powerball jackpot in Jan. 2016, split three-ways by ticket-holders in California, Florida, and Tennessee.

The odds of winning the Mega Millions jackpot are 1 in 302.6 million.

Had no one matched all of the numbers drawn lottery officials said the next jackpot would have reached $1.7 billion.

With the jackpot being won Friday, the next Mega Millions annuity jackpot estimate is reset to its starting point of $20 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.

The Mega Millions winning numbers are published at USA Mega (www.usamega.com) minutes after the drawing takes place.

Top 25 United States lottery jackpots of all time

Friday's $1.28 billion Mega Millions jackpot stands as the third-largest lottery jackpot of all time in the United States — and the world.

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: $1.337 billion, Jul. 29, 2022 (29 rollovers, starting at $20 million) - Illinois
4. Mega Millions: $1.05 billion, Jan. 22, 2021 (36 rollovers, starting at $20 million) - Michigan
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

The Friday 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: $780.5 million cash, Jul. 29, 2022 ($1.337 billion annuity) - Illinois
4. Mega Millions: $776.6 million cash, Jan. 22, 2021 ($1.05 billion annuity) - Michigan
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