Powerball Winner Is A Millennial Who Quit His Job After Snatching $768 Million Prize
The winner of last month’s Powerball Jackpot has finally been revealed.
The person who took home the coveted prize worth $768.4 million has been identified as 24-year-old Manuel Franco from West Allis, Wisconsin. The millennial has officially become the third largest jackpot winner in U.S. history after buying the winning Quick Pick ticket at a Speedway in New Berlin back in March, as reported by The Daily Mail.
“It feels like a dream — like any moment I’m going to be back in my room, laying and its going to be a disappointment. I simply can’t believe that an ordinary guy like me could ever win the Powerball,” Franco said during a press conference on Tuesday press.
The Milwaukee native added that he intends on using his newfound fortune to “help out the world.” He said that he felt quite “lucky” the day his fate eventually changed, which prompted him to buy $10 worth of tickets. Franco explained he left work at about 2 p.m. feeling unnaturally lucky, which led him and his girlfriend to buy 10 tickets each in an effort to improve their chances.
He said he experienced such a weird sensation that he almost looked up at the camera and winked as he “really had that lucky feeling.” However, he didn’t give it much thought afterwards and even went to work on the day of the March 27 draw without checking his ticket numbers to make sure they matched the prize’s.
“I went to work not knowing any better to check… I left work that day, I remember hearing that day, ‘Powerball winner Wisconsin,'” he said in the press conference, adding that he checked all of the tickets once he got home and that none of his girlfriend’s stubs won her any cash.
24-year-old Wisconsin man wins $768M Powerball jackpot https://t.co/syHcniT1Jf pic.twitter.com/UqEo4H7MhB
— New York Post (@nypost) April 23, 2019
He then found out that one of his tickets landed him $4, which left him “super excited” as it’s not a recurrent event. But it was when Franco checked the very last one of his 10 tickets that he was shocked to find out that all of his six numbers matched the Powerball’s.
“At this point it was going insane. I don’t want to embarrass myself on live TV, but it was amazing.”
The young man described how his heart was “pumping” out of excitement and disbelief and that he “screamed for about five or 10 minutes” upon realizing what had just happened to him. He jokingly admitted that he didn’t bother cashing in the $4 ticket.
Although he didn’t reveal what he did for a living, Franco revealed during Tuesday’s press conference that he quit his job just a day later as he was unable to concentrate following the shocking news. But despite his new fortune, he said he planned on carrying on a “normal” life.
