Anonymity might not last for billion-dollar jackpot winner
By Kate Northrop
The winner of the $1.35 billion Mega Millions jackpot is suing the mother of his child for allegedly telling his family about the lottery win.
An anonymous Maine man who won the $1.35 billion Mega Millions jackpot is accusing the mother of his child of blabbing about his win and is taking legal action in retaliation.
In February, one lucky winner stepped forward to claim the then-fourth-largest lottery jackpot in history (it is currently the sixth-largest) from the Mega Millions drawing on Jan., 13, 2023. He opted for the one-time lump sum payment of $723.56 million and would have received just over $404 million after taxes.
Since he had the option of claiming the winnings under a trust to keep his identity hidden, it was fairly certain that we would never know who he is.
However, that might very well change. Now, he's accusing the mother of his child of letting news of the win slip to his own parents, and depending on how tightly their lips are sealed, it remains to be seen whether the game of telephone has taken off in full swing.
Named only as "John Doe" in the lawsuit, which was filed on Tuesday, he is seeking damages from the woman, known as "Sara Smith," for revealing the win and potentially jeopardizing his public identity and safety.
On Feb. 8, two weeks before he claimed the prize, "Sara" signed an NDA saying that she must keep the jackpot win a secret until their daughter comes of age on June 1, 2032 to "avoid irreparable harm of allowing the media or the public in general to discover" his identity, physical location, assets, and their daughter. In exchange, "John" agreed to provide her with support and ongoing security resources.
Documents state that a breach of the NDA would entitle "John" to "legal and equitable relief... without the requirement or necessity of proving actual damages." This could include monetary damages and the cost of attorney fees and expenses accrued by "John" following a breach.
Should "Sara" violate the NDA, whether by accident or deliberately, her contract required that she disclose the breach to "John." She did not divulge the violation to him after allegedly revealing the win to his father and stepmother over the phone. His sister then discovered the news through the grapevine, and it's possible more people know.
Documents say that the unauthorized disclosure of the news resulted in "John" suffering "irreparable injury," and that "there is immediate and imminent danger that 'John Doe' will continue to suffer irreparable injury for which there is no adequate remedy at law."
The winner's lawsuit demands that she reveal every single person she's told and that she pay a $100,000 fine for every time she broke the NDA in addition to attorney fees and court costs incurred.
"I understand why someone would want to remain anonymous with this kind of money," a representative said on behalf of the winner while claiming the prize in February. "We wish them well and hope they do good things with it."
l told you all being Anonymous will not protect you from Danger. I mentioned external threat by strangers and internal threat by family. If you go public you increase external threat true and if you go Anonymous you increase internal Threat . So the best thing really is to level your threat by not being Anonymous enjoy your life to the fullest
This is the burden of winning the lottery I guess.
And you know what, I still want to win it and so do millions of other hopefuls.
So am going to buy my PB and MM ticket.
I won't be signing any NDA with anyone - no one needs to know that I won anything.
We forge ahead with the lessons learnt - don't trust even those closest to you, lol 🤣🤣🤣
Mum's the Word:
https://www.freep.com/story/life/advice/2016/05/19/carolyn-hax-careful-trust-secrets/84293964/
Billion Dollar Whiners Can Afford Billion Dollar Security...
Get Over It!
lol i am so co-signing that, truth. i agree,wholly, with JADE.
Good morning, afternoon #facts
funny she told, and i am going to see if he win his suit, i doubt it, but more so, she doesn't have big funds to pay the guy who "hid"it from the MAN WOMAN who gave u life. smh
Proof money cannot buy you happiness. Sounds like it went to his head.
* The question is always- why? Maybe she was hoping he would propose to her since his ship finally came in & she would be set for life. Seems there is no way back into his good graces for now- mother of his child or not.
*What's that Taylor Swift song " Bad Blood."
So they are not married or living together, I assume. So why did he tell her in the first place? He could have increased his child support without disclosing the win. Tell no one unless you are legally required to do so like a joint marital asset.
some folks are alive today, 'cause its illegal to hunt them for sport
Under his state law and the child courts he is required to disclose any increase in wealth. This then gets turned over to the courts for re evaluation of the adult support errrr...i mean the mislabeled child support. He did his due diligence by creating a NDA and still following the court increase. He has every legal right to enforce the contract and seek damages .
He had his reasons for not telling his family. All parents/siblings aren't good people. She violated her agreement. I hope he wins. Problem is she is raising his child.
Move up the northern half of that state....It's rural enough so folks won't have any interest in his activities. Or live over the border in N.H.
I assumed it was some sort of informal support and not court ordered. He could have asked the family court not to share the source of his new wealth but still disclose the amount. But by the amount, she would have figured it out.
NDAs can be tricky to enforce. If the court first outed the lottery win to her, it will complicate matters. I hope he wins. We should all appreciate his efforts here. We might get some great case law to start the ball rolling again on the anonymity issue for states.
Once a blabbermouth, always a blabbermouth.
BobP