Someone in S. Carolina has lottery ticket worth $1.537B

Who won? State is one of eight that allows winners to remain anonymous

SIMPSONVILLE, S.C. — The number of billionaires in South Carolina may have doubled overnight — at least before taxes — after a lottery ticket sold in the state won the $1.537 billion Mega Millions lottery jackpot.

The ticket, sold at the KC Mart in Simpsonville, matched all six numbers drawn Tuesday night, defying the 1 in 302.5 million odds to win the nearrecord prize.

The winner would only become an actual billionaire by taking the prize in annual installments over three decades and hanging on to the bulk of the money.

The lucky person can also take an $877.8 million lump-sum cash payment, which most winners choose to receive.

South Carolina Education Lottery officials know when and where the winning ticket was bought, but until someone turns the ticket in, they won’t know who bought it. And the public may never find out.

South Carolina allows lottery winners to remain anonymous after conducting a thorough investigation to confirm their identity, lottery Chief Operating Officer Tony Cooper said.

The name of South Carolina’s last big winner — a $399 million Powerball jackpot in September 2013 which at the time was the fourth biggest lottery prize in U.S. history — has never been made public.

“Our message to the $1.5 BILLION #Mega Millions jackpot winner: Sign the back of the ticket, place the ticket in a safe location, speak with a trusted advisor and CALL THE LOTTERY at 1-866-736-9819. Take a deep breath and enjoy the moment!” the South Carolina Education Lottery tweeted.

The winning numbers were 5, 28, 62, 65, 70 and Mega Ball 5.

The prize is extraordinary by any measure, but particularly so for South Carolina.

With more than $1.5 billion, an exceedingly generous winner could shower roughly $307 on each of the state’s 5 million people.

It’s about as much as 20 percent of the state’s $8 billion annual budget.

“It’s a big, big win for South Carolina,” Cooper said.

Lottery officials said the state will get $80 million in taxes.

South Carolina is one of eight states — along with Delaware, Georgia, Kansas, Maryland, North Dakota, Ohio and Texas — where winners can remain anonymous.

The winner also has up to 180 days to claim the prize.

KC Mart owner CJ Patel will also be a winner. He gets a $50,000 bonus, and said Wednesday he will share part of it with his employees. He has owned the store for more than three years.

Patel said lottery ticket sales were brisk leading up to Tuesday and he has no idea who bought the winner.

“I hope he will keep coming in,” Patel said with a broad smile. “He’d be good for the business.”