Jackpot winner spent over $130,000 per week
By Kate Northrop
A Scottish lottery winner of a £161 million (US$249.9 million) EuroMillions jackpot spent hefty a chunk of his fortune within eight years on luxuries and charitable acts before he died.
Colin Weir was Scotland's biggest lottery winner and had the purchase history to prove it. Over the course of eight years prior to his death, he burned through $50 million and left a legacy in his wake.
In 2011, Weir and his wife, Christine, instantly became one of the United Kingdom's biggest lottery winners when they scooped up a £161 million EuroMillions jackpot. In the years between his win and his passing at age 71 in December 2019, half of his share of the prize had been spent.
The cameraman-turned-lottery winner spent his fortune in a variety of ways, from luxury cars to buying a 55% stake in his favorite soccer club, Patrick Thistle FC. He bought the share of the company a month before his death so he could donate it to fans and allow the local community to contribute to its future. He would later funnel £2.5 million into team as an additional investment.
He and Christine also helped found the Thistle Weir Youth Academy for budding soccer players, and a section of Firhill Stadium was named the Colin Weir Stand.
Weir was a staunch SNP supporter, having contributed millions to the party and the Yes Scotland pro-independence campaign in 2014, which did not succeed.
After just a ten-minute viewing in 2014, Weir and his wife bought an exquisite £3.5 million (US$2.1 million) furnished mansion called Frognal House near Troon.
He was also an avid horse racing enthusiast and took part-ownership of three thoroughbreds, two five-year-old geldings Knighted and Felony, and winning Irish mare If You Say Run, each priced at around several thousand pounds.
While countless lottery winners have used their prize to get away from it all and escape to a remote place, Weir said that they had no desire to get up and leave town and instead opted to use their winnings to help bring themselves closer to others.
"We didn't want to go away and live on a small island with no contact with the people who are important to us," Weir had said.
The couple spent £5 million (US$7.76 million) buying houses for close friends, setting up scholarships for hopeful students, and donating to local soccer teams, a nursing home, and sports center. Rather than sell their former £220,000 (US$341,540) home, they gifted the house to a young mother who lived next door with her parents.
Up next on their laundry list was to buy five homes each valued at £230,000 for friends in a new development, and Christine bought new properties for every one of her five siblings.
They then bought a four-bedroom home settled on 23 acres of garden and wilderness in Largs for £850,000 (US$1.3 million), which they later sold to an overseas trust for £1.4 million (US$2.08 million) in 2016.
The Weirs engaged in a multitude of charitable acts, having set up the Weir Charitable Trust to fund projects promoting health, animal welfare, and promotions for sports and physical activity.
They paid a five-figure amount to help provide a prosthetic leg for 13-year-old Kieran Maxwell, who had lost part of his leg to an aggressive form of cancer. A bright athlete, Maxwell unfortunately passed away aged 18 in June 2017 from Ewing's Sarcoma.
With countless other donations and projects funded by the lottery winners under their belt, there was not a person around them who could not recall the legacy they had left behind in the wake of their kindness.
While the lottery jackpot brought out his philanthropic heart, his health deteriorated for several years following the big win. His 38-year marriage with Christine was also fraying at the edges and they divorced in the summer of 2019.
At age 71, father-of-two Weir died from sepsis and an "acute kidney injury."
"Spending £40 million in eight years takes a bit of doing, but it is likely to have mostly gone into setting up trusts for his family and other interests," a financial expert said of Weir. "What he left behind seems to be a very sensible, safe portfolio."
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* At least Colin left some serious change on the table after his death. I can appreciate that in a person, go semi crazy, but not full bore crazy & l don't think he had regrets. That look on Colin's face said it all!
* A Toast to you Colin.
Ya can't take it with ya!
Mr Weir had also invested £50,000 in Premium Bonds, which are very popular in the UK. The US Treasury should follow the UK Treasury's example and introduce similar Bonds. I suspect they would be just as popular in America.
I was thinking the same thing.