What did a small-town family do with a $1.586 billion Powerball win?
What would you do if you won the $1.586 billion Powerball prize? A Florida resident who recently became the long-awaited winner of the $1.58 billion Mega Millions jackpot will have to decide just that in the near future.
For previous winners in a drawing in January 2016, life as multimillionaires began on the "Today" show − before their prize was officially claimed − and ever since, it's been fairly private.
Here are things to know about the historic $1.586 billion Powerball jackpot, the second-highest in the history of the game, and its winners.
What'd the $2.04 billion winner buy? A $25 million Hollywood dream home and another in his hometown
Who won $1.586 billion Powerball jackpot on Jan. 13, 2016?
Powerball made history Jan. 11, 2016, the first time a lottery jackpot hit $1 billion. After no one matched all five numbers plus the Powerball in the Jan. 9, 2016, drawing for $949 million, the next jackpot soared to $1.4 billion. (No one won that drawing either.) Powerball made history again when three tickets matched all six numbers to win $1.586 billion in the Jan. 13, 2016, drawing.
The jackpot started Nov. 4, 2015, at $40 million. It had rolled over almost 30 times from Nov. 4, 2015, to Jan. 13, 2016, before three tickets from California, Munford, Tennessee, and Melbourne Beach, Florida, claimed the grand prize (see below). The winners were Marvin and Mae Acosta from California, John and Lisa Robinson from Munford, and Maureen Smith and David Kaltschmidt from Melbourne Beach. The winning numbers were 4-8-19-27-34 and Powerball 10.
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A 'Today' show appearance
The historic $1.586 billion Powerball drawing occurred Wednesday, Jan. 13, 2016, and hours later, lottery officials announced three tickets from three different states would split the prize. On Friday, Jan. 15, 2016, John Robinson and Lisa Robinson of Munford, Tennessee, appeared on the "Today" show with Savannah Guthrie and Carson Daly, claiming to win the Powerball, before they'd appeared in person at the Tennessee Lottery office. (Big-prize winners must appear in person at the official lottery headquarters in their state within a certain timeframe.)
The Robinsons decided to contact "Today" to go public and then planned to stay as private as possible. Their lawyer had advised them to appear on national TV even before presenting the ticket to lottery officials as a way to "control" the story, they said. The lawyer, Joe Townsend, and his daughter, Ilene, appeared on the morning show with the Robinsons.
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In the segment, Guthrie introduced the Robinsons as the lucky couple who said they were holding the winning ticket.
Guthrie asks, "Can we see that ticket? Keeping it nice and close to your heart," she says as John Robinson extracts the ticket from his shirt pocket.
Guthrie explained that because the couple hadn't gone to the official lottery headquarters in their state, they couldn't officially verify whether the Robinsons were actually winners. Producers verified their backgrounds, but Guthrie made it clear that "it's not official yet."
She then asked the couple: "Why 'Today' show first?"
John Robinson then pointed to his lawyer, Joe Townsend.
So Guthrie asked him why. To which Townsend responded: "I think the American public wants to hear from them, and even though they want to be private after this is over, they want to, you know, let the public know that they're the winners."
Guthrie reiterated several times in the interview that the Robinsons contacted the "Today" show: "It's kind of interesting how you found us, we didn't find you, you found us."
3 tickets won $1.586 billion Powerball. Who claimed lottery jackpot first?
John and Lisa Robinson of Munford, Tennessee, were the first to claim their share of the record $1.586 billion jackpot − two days after the drawing and hours after appearing on the "Today" show with Savannah Guthrie and Carson Daly. They appeared with their daughter, Tiffany, and their rescue dog, Abby, on Jan. 15, 2016, at the Tennessee Lottery headquarters. During the press conference that day, the Robinsons asked the public for their privacy, admitting they are "common folk from a small town."
John Robinson and Lisa Robinson took the lump sum − a little more than $327 million before taxes − though they posed with a giant $528.8 million check, Tennessee Lottery officials said. They received a couple million dollars immediately and about 10 days later, they were to receive the remainder of the prize, according to a 2016 USA TODAY story.
Where did the Robinsons of Tennessee buy their winning Powerball ticket?
The Robinsons bought their winning Powerball ticket at Naifeh's Food Market, one of three lottery retailers in their hometown of 6,000 residents about 30 miles northeast of Memphis, Tennessee.
Though the couple had triple-checked their winning numbers, John Robinson told news media that he wouldn't officially believe it until state lottery officials reported a winning ticket was purchased in Munford. By early Thursday, Jan. 14, 2016, state lottery officials announced that Naifeh's in Tennessee sold one of the three winning tickets.
Ally, Abby and Oney Naifeh took a selfie with their family's Tennessee lottery check that was presented at their family's store, Naifeh's Food Mart, that Thursday in Munford. The store received a $25,000 bonus for selling one of the three winning Powerball lottery tickets.
When did the other winners from $1.586 billion Powerball jackpot claim their prize?
In 2016, FLORIDA TODAY reported Maureen Smith and David Kaltschmidt bought their winning Powerball ticket at a Publix in Melbourne Beach. The couple waited until February 2016 to claim their share of the grand prize.
Six months after the drawing, Marvin and Mae Acosta of California claimed their Powerball winnings of $528.8 million, according to the California Lottery.
Can lottery winners in Tennessee remain anonymous?
Lottery winners in Tennessee cannot remain anonymous. A person's name, home state and hometown are public record.
More: Mega Millions jackpot winners can collect anonymously in certain states. Here's where.
What did the Robinsons do with their share of the $1.586 Powerball jackpot?
Lisa Robinson, who worked in a dermatologist's office, had called her supervisor to say she would not be in Friday but to tune into the "Today" show. At the time, she said she and her husband had no plans to quit their jobs.
The couple said one of their priorities was to pay off their daughter's student loans, a home loan and several other bills. They also would like to splurge on family members.
According to a 2019 story posted on Fox 13 Memphis' site, a tax assessor confirmed the Robinsons bought a $6.2 million, 10-bedroom home on a 320-acre lot with a private lake, a private home theater and eight bathrooms, per the property's listing on Trulia. Fox 13 reported the Robinsons "cut ties with the attorney that encouraged them to thrust their earnings into the public eye shortly after collecting the check."
Though Fox 13 visited the family's home in Munford, the TV station did not disclose the specific location of the multimillion-dollar home, "out of respect for the family's request for privacy."
Contributing: Natalie Neysa Alund, the Tennesseean; Doug Stanglin, USA TODAY; The Associated Press; Kinsey Crowley, USA TODAY
Sangalang is a lead digital producer for USA TODAY Network-Florida. Follow her on Twitter or Instagram at @byjensangalang. Support local journalism. Consider subscribing to a Florida newspaper.
This article originally appeared on Florida Today: 2016 Powerball lottery winners: How they handled $1.6 billion jackpot
