A 23-year-old rancher whose family has fallen behind in their taxes and recently had a mobile home repossessed claimed a $232.1 million Powerball jackpot on Friday, one of the largest undivided jackpots in U.S. lottery history.
Neal Wanless, who lives on his family's 320-acre ranch near Mission, S.D., bought the winning ticket in the nearby town of Winner late last month during a trip to buy livestock feed. He will take home $88.5 million in a lump sum payment after taxes are deducted.
He was wearing a big black cowboy hat and had a huge grin on his face during the brief ceremony.
Wanless, who did not speak publicly about the win until Friday, spoke for only a couple of minutes at a ceremony Friday, reading a prepared statement.
"I want to thank the Lord for giving me this opportunity and blessing me with this great fortune. I will not squander it," he said.