One of the winners of a historic USD 1.3 billion Powerball jackpot last month is an immigrant from Laos who has had cancer fo𝕴r eight years and had his latest chemotherapy treatment last week.
Cheng “Charlie” Saephan, of Portland, told a news conference held by the Oregon Lottery that he and his wife, Duanpen, would split the prize evenly with a friend who chipped in USD 100 to buy a batch of tickets with them, Laiza Chao. They are taking a lump sum pꦦayment, USD 422 million after taxes.
“I will be able to provide for my famil꧋y and my health,” he said, ad⛄ding that he'd “find a good doctor for myself.”
He said that as a cancer patient, he wondered, “How am I going to have time to spend all🦩 of this money? How long will I live?”
After they bought the shared tickets, Chao sent a photo of the tickets to Saephan and said, “We're billionaires.” It was a joke before the actual drawing, he said, but the next day it came true🍌.
The winning Powerball ticket was sold in early April at a Plaid Pantry convenience st𒊎ore in Portland, ending a winless strea♏k that had stretched more than three months. The Oregon Lottery said it had to go through a security and vetting process before announcing the identity of the person who came forward to claim the prize.
Under Oregon law, with few exceptions, lottery players cannot remain anonymous. Winners have a𓆉 year to claim the 𒀰top prize.
The jackpot has a cash value of USD 621 million before taxes if the winner chooses to take a lump sum rather than an annuity paid over 30 years, with an immediate payout followed by 29 annual installments. The prize is subjec⭕t to federal taxes and state taxes in Oregon.
The USD 1.3 billion prize is the fourth largest Powerbal💃l jackpot in history, and the eighth largest among U.S. jackpot games, according to the O🌊regon Lottery.
The biggest U.S. lottery jackpot won was USD🍃 2.04 billion in California in 2022.
