‘Could not have happened to better people’

Tennessee man wins third of $1.6 billion Powerball

Lottery officials verified Friday that a longtime resident of the small town of Munford, Tennessee, bought one of three tickets winning the world-record $1.6 billion Powerball jackpot.

Tennessee Lottery executive Rebecca Hargrove made the big announcement.

John Robinson of Munford, a town of 6,000 north of Memphis, said he quickly reached out to his brother and others to assemble a team of lawyers and financial planners.

What could one person possibly do with all that money?

Robinson said earlier in an appearance on NBC’s “Today” show that he and his wife, Lisa, want to help out certain friends, give to the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, and donate to their church.

“I’m a firm believer in tithing to my church,” Robinson said.

Their daughter Tiffany, who flew with them to New York and back, is looking forward to paying off her student loans. She also wants a horse.

“My first thought was, I’ve always wanted a horse,” she said. “I get a horse now. My dad always said, ‘’When I win the lottery.’”

The three jackpot winners can leave their winnings to be invested and thereby collect 30 annual payments totalling an estimated $533 million, or take their third of $983.5 million in cash all at once.

Robinson said he would take the lump sum.

The other tickets were sold in Melbourne Beach, Florida, and Chino Hills, California, each one overcoming odds of 1 in 292.2 million to land on all the numbers.

John Robinson works in information technology and his wife is employed at a dermatologist’s office.