$254 Million Powerball Jackpot Claimed by Wealth Managers
EmailAfter going unclaimed for 27 days, a $254 million Powerball jackpot — the largest payout ever in Connecticut — has been claimed by three men who work at an asset management firm.
Gregg Skidmore, Brandon Lacoff and Tim Davidson claimed the jackpot this morning. The three men work at Belpointe Asset Management firm.
In early November, a sanitation worker claimed he bought the winning lottery ticket, but lost it.
“He says it’s his number, but he can’t find the ticket, lost the ticket. So I don’t know what to say,” Suni Patel, the owner of the store that sold the winning ticket, told ABC affiliate WTNH-TV in New Haven, Conn.
If he was not mistaken, the sanitation worker has until April 30, 2012, to claim what would now be a quarter of the jackpot.
In what seems to be an unfair turn of events, many people who are already rich have won the lottery. Evelyn Marie Adams, the first two-time winner of the New Jersey Lottery, won $3.9 million in October 1985 and $1.4 million only four months later.
Brian McCarthy, 25-year-old son of millionaire Marriott president Robert McCarthy, won $107 million from the Virginia Mega Millions jackpot in September.
In 2007, Wisconsin Rep. Jim Sesenbrenner, millionaire heir to the Kleenex and Scott paper towel fortune, won the lottery for the third time. He is reported to be worth more than $11 million.
In 2008, Kenan Altunis, a native of Long Island, N.Y., and a millionaire banker, won the state’s first “$1 million a year for life” scratch-off game and because he lives in London, he does not have to pay taxes on the prize money.
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did i really hear the multimillionaire diane saywer talking about the injustice of some rich guys winning the lottery???!!!! Her commentary should be left out!
Posted by: tim kuhn | November 28, 2011, 7:00 pm 7:00 pm
Since when does one have to sign an affidavit that he/she NEEDS the money in order to purchase a lottery ticket? How can anyone say a LOTTERY is unfair? Unless there is reason to believe the lottery system is corrupt?
Posted by: Papas in RI | November 28, 2011, 7:10 pm 7:10 pm
I AM OUTRAGED! How dare Diane Sawyer lead off the story about the new Conneticut lottery winners with the premise that it isnt fair! That the rich get richer! This is RIDICULOUS! Everyone who plays the lottery has the same chance of winning and to insinute that the wealthy dont’ have a right to play, and win, like every other American is appalling to me. Ms. Sawyer…do YOU have the right to earn the million dollar salary you do..do you give most of it to charity and live like the majority of Americans do on say…$50,000.00 a year? So if a poor person wins $30 million, why is THAT fair? Why should one person win so much when 30 people could each have $1 million? Should that person give most of it to charity too? This “class war” being waged by you liberal reporters and news agengies is getting TOTALLY OUT OF HAND! When that war comes, and it will, egged on by YOU, I hope you are all brought to justice for inciting that war. SHAME ON YOU MS SAWYER!!! SHAME ON YOU!!
Posted by: Debi Desmond | November 28, 2011, 7:11 pm 7:11 pm
I believe judgment should be reserved about the status of the lottery winner (rich/poor, etc.). Everyone who purchases a ticket (rich/poor, etc) has an opportunity to win. In the story, I didn’t hear about the sanitation worker who lost/misplaced his/her ticket.
The implication is that only poor people should purchase tickets. I hardly consider this TOP NEWS!!!
Posted by: Sue McGill | November 28, 2011, 7:18 pm 7:18 pm
The rich get richer for a reason. They know how to take care of their money. The rest? Buy bling and garbage. Nothing wrong with already well off people winning the lottery. Rich people do not look at money the way the rest of society does. For them it’s creating wealth, not being rich. Once you create wealth, you’re liquid and that passes on from generation to generation of your offspring. Rich people? just Rich? Doomed.
Posted by: Michael | November 28, 2011, 7:42 pm 7:42 pm
I could not believe what I was hearing (and seeing) as Diane Sawyer “reported the news” of these three “undeserving” winners of the Lottery. I could not agree more with the previous comments. This class warfare aided by the liberal media will destroy this country. The odds of winning are infinitely high and the lottery scheme is really a tax on the poor, no comment on that issue by Diane. What should the government do, means test the lottery ticket buyers? Oh by the way, this story did not deserve to make ABC Nightly News.
Posted by: Jim | November 28, 2011, 8:08 pm 8:08 pm
When wealthy people win the lottery, it just looks bad. That’s probably why the lottery hasn’t advertised the fact that already wealthy people have been winning jackpots. I don’t expect to win but to be honest, after reading this I am re=thinking the whole thing. I’m not sure I want to donate $1 or $2 a week to someone who already has lots of money stashed in the bank.
Posted by: whatever | November 28, 2011, 8:08 pm 8:08 pm
do you people really think the rich folks that win the lottery are only buying ONE ticket?
Posted by: c'mon now | November 28, 2011, 8:16 pm 8:16 pm
Every billionaire with a million to spare should buy a million lottery tickets!
Posted by: John Hanson | November 28, 2011, 8:17 pm 8:17 pm
Debi Desmond, you do realize that everyone doesn’t have the same chance at winning because the rich who play have more spare money to buy tickets?
I think that Diane Sawyer expressed what many people felt, that to see so many rich people lately winning lotteries does seem unfair, in that it is a poor person’s only chance of getting very rich, vs. a rich person just being greedy to even want to play.
How much wealth can a person accumulate before we look at them as being greedy?
Posted by: Librarian53 | November 28, 2011, 8:31 pm 8:31 pm
I remember the time Whitey Bulger won the mass lottery, what a coincindence
Posted by: elmer fudd | November 28, 2011, 8:49 pm 8:49 pm
Relax people. She just said “what seems unfair” which will, to a lot of people, seem unfair. To the person freaking out with all caps shames, there are a lot more shameful things going on in this country than this. So focus your ridiculous wild rage on them maybe.
Posted by: LOL at you | November 28, 2011, 9:12 pm 9:12 pm
C’mon Now, I think Diane reported that these three men had only one ticket and it was a computer pick.
It is blind luck. You could buy a million tickets and not win a dime.
Posted by: Jim | November 28, 2011, 9:22 pm 9:22 pm
I feel so sorry for persons who actually have worked for their money, made a substantial amount of money and now are made to feel guilty because they happen to win a large lottery package. Everyone who bought a ticket had the same opportunity but because someone with more money happens to win, there is an uproar about the fairness of winning. This is just another by-product of a nation that has been raised to believe that life should be fair and no one should have more than I do. How childish do we have to be before we can step up and mature in our thinking? And how in the world does ABC think that this is newsworthy? At least NBC did NOT point out the fact that the men were not poor, but they did stress that most of the monies would be given to charity. There is a reason I prefer to watch other news casts.
Posted by: morofino | November 28, 2011, 9:25 pm 9:25 pm
Ms Sawyer, that is a great point and you are absolutely right. Please give 75% of your wealth to those less fortunate (or less ambitious) so that they can experience the luxuries of life that you and your liberal cronies enjoy. America, the land of the free and the home of the brave, is turning into the land of idiots and absurdity thanks to the “news” being “reported” by the liberal media.
Posted by: Nauseous | November 28, 2011, 10:19 pm 10:19 pm
The lottery knows exactly how many winning tickets are sold for any given game. So they know if there is a 2nd winning ticket out there for this $254 million dollar win.
Posted by: Karen | November 28, 2011, 11:02 pm 11:02 pm
A progressive windfall tax in line with assets and income is what is needed . Poor people get more , rich people get less. If they don’t like the arrangement then they don’t have to participate. Also , no one should be eligible to play if they aren’t required to pay taxes. These are smart simple rules that will level the playing field . As it is now , the rich have plenty extra to spend playing lottery games because Bush gave them tax cuts galore . Tax the rich good , then let them play the lottery to get it back. ; )
Posted by: davem | November 28, 2011, 11:07 pm 11:07 pm
We were instantly offended by the description of the winners as “asset managers” & the question “do they really need the money?” They played the odds just like anyone else can. It is actually no one’s business to know what they plan to do with the money, or what their current income is. I applaud them for working hard and becoming successful in a very difficult economic world. Did anyone question what the US government plans to do with their $141+ million??? Perhaps that can go directly to paying down our completely out of control debt- brought on by our warped sense of “fairness for all”… We say good for them !!!! & ABC news has no place to judge anyone for being sucessful (or lucky).
Posted by: dndmtnview | November 28, 2011, 11:57 pm 11:57 pm
Anybody that plays can win. Sometimes life isn’t fair.
Posted by: lexingtonlady | November 29, 2011, 12:04 am 12:04 am
Good for them…congratulations gents, well done! To the people who cry “it isn’t fair”… You are what’s wrong with America and you probably support every child getting a trophy for participation. Life is not fair, the lottery is pure luck…real success comes from hard work and an education…hence why most the OWS people are losers. Quit whining and congratulate these men.
Posted by: SF_warrior | November 29, 2011, 12:09 am 12:09 am
Wouldn’t it be better if the Jackpot had a personnel limit and is spread out over more people?
Example: If there was a jackpot of 100 million dollars; wouldn’t it be better if 50 people got 2 million each instead of just one or a few people?
I am not trying to say what it fair or unfair. I just think that it would be better for the majority rather then the minority if large amounts were spread out over more people.
Posted by: rob | November 29, 2011, 12:34 am 12:34 am
If I won the lottery, I’d buy the house next door to Dick Cheney and turn it into a homeless shelter for gulf war vets.
Posted by: howdymo1 | November 29, 2011, 1:56 am 1:56 am
I love that the type of people who buy ten feet of scratch-offs every payday are having meltdowns over this.
Posted by: Ed | November 29, 2011, 1:56 am 1:56 am
So now the lottery has to be FAIR…you people are ridiculous! If you don’t play you can’t win and if you play you have the same chance as everyone else, THAT sounds pretty darn fair to me
Posted by: samhiguchi | November 29, 2011, 3:46 am 3:46 am
Anyone who thinks rich people have a better chance to win because they buy more tickets is probably both poor and bad at math. Poor people buy more lottery tickets than middle class or rich people. Buying 10 powerball tickets is 10 times better than one, but it is still about 13,000,000 to 1 against winning. You could buy 10,000 tickets and it would still only be 13,000 to 1. No person who knows how to take care of their money would ever do something so absurd. In my experience as a cashier when I was a teenager there were three kinds of people buying lottery tickets. Poor people who believed they would win if the game wasn’t fixed, compulsive gamblers, and people having a lark.
Posted by: Jeff | November 29, 2011, 7:26 am 7:26 am
Correction: the statement: “the sanitation worker has until April 30, 2012, to claim what would now be a quarter of the jackpot” is incorrect. if the sanitation worker finds the ticket he will be awarded HALF the jackpot.
Posted by: Ed Straker | November 29, 2011, 8:19 am 8:19 am
To all the people that do not like ABC news, why in the world are you here? Have you not anything better to do than come to the website to insult them? Poor dumb losers. Nobody is making you read their news. Idiots.
Posted by: HereInOmaha | November 29, 2011, 9:53 am 9:53 am
Just watched the accompanying video on the new controversy on whether these 3 guys are actually the owner of the ticket.
My guess is one of their clients is going through or looking into a divorce and doesn’t want to split the money with the wife or husband. Thus the hiding behind a trust, so she/he can get the money later.
This is illegal, I hope the state really investigates this.
Posted by: Librarian53 | November 29, 2011, 10:38 am 10:38 am
Um, the article says the sanitation worker is entitled to one-quarter of the jackpot if he finds his ticket. But, if the three men in this story won from one ticket, they are entitled to HALF the jackpot, not three-quarters of it, and the sanitation worker would get the other half, not a quarter share.
Posted by: WorkingClass | November 29, 2011, 10:58 am 10:58 am
NEWS FLASH: Life isn’t fair….get over it! And to those who posted that these guys are just rich, how most people have to work for a living….it didn’t say they were trust fund babies sitting home eating bon-bons every day. THEY WORK…..just like the rest of us. So WHAT? I’s their fault that they went to school, got educations and degrees in the financial world and have extremely well paying jobs? You can’t hold it against these guys….and there is no law saying people who are a bit better off than others can’t play the lottery. We all have the same chances once we buy a ticket.
Posted by: Manda | November 29, 2011, 11:00 am 11:00 am
And in all fairness……Did the Post and the Daily News really need to print the headlines they did? Nothing like getting people all riled up over nothing. Idiots!
Posted by: Manda | November 29, 2011, 11:02 am 11:02 am
Another example of how the LEFT WING press thinks.—–It’s UNFAIR for the wealthy to win the lottery? Notice she apparently has no problem with the wealthy PLAYING the lottery! This type of distorted thinking permeates and underpins many “journalists” news stories.
Posted by: free_2_choose | November 29, 2011, 11:13 am 11:13 am
Just another example of the mind-boggling phenomenon of opulence attracting good fortune. No wonder some people think that life is just plain unfair, eh?
Posted by: paisleychic | November 29, 2011, 11:15 am 11:15 am
@FREE_2_CHOOSE…aww, I wish I didn’t just see your comment, or I would have responded earlier. Got news from you bud: I am FAR from left wing. You know NOTHING. Keep talking your talk because obviously you’ve got lots of it (and not much else).
Posted by: paisleychic | November 29, 2011, 4:29 pm 4:29 pm
“Relax people. She just said “what seems unfair” which will, to a lot of people, seem unfair.” @ LOL — thank you. @ the rest of you…RELAAAAAX. Holy mackerel, I said “seems unfair”. Sounds like you’re all pretty upset about it though. I don’t personally play the lottery, but ya’ll might want to stop wasting your money if it makes you this upset when you don’t win. Then again, you gotta be in it to win it, eh?
Posted by: paisleychic | November 29, 2011, 4:32 pm 4:32 pm
Uh-oh, sorry everybody, think I goofed up. I thought this ran from the bottom up, and you were responding to my comment (first). Didn’t realize my comment was actually last. I was like seriously why is everyone freaking out at the comment I made!!! Now I realize that apparently you are freaking out at Diane Sawyer. Disregard everything I said. lol
Posted by: paisleychic | November 29, 2011, 4:36 pm 4:36 pm
The sadest part is that the owner of the damn check thought it would be a kick in the face to use bankers to collect the check publically when it could have been placed in a trust initially. What a kick in the face to protestors!
Posted by: toni | November 29, 2011, 8:55 pm 8:55 pm
This is simply bad reporting. There was only one winning ticket. The bit about the sanitation worker being entitled to one fourth of the jackpot if he can prove he bought a winning ticket is an embarassing thing to print. First, there is was only one winning ticket. Second, if there were two winning tickets, it would be known, and the sanitation worker (if the ticket was his) would be entitled to HALF, not a quarter of the pize.
Posted by: GC | December 1, 2011, 5:10 pm 5:10 pm
Could the person that bought the ticket could have been an illegal?
Posted by: ? | December 3, 2011, 7:24 am 7:24 am
Its unfair to me because poor people can afford a limited amount of ticket.. but tbe wealthy can spend thousand to increase their chances.. but at the end of the day i would do the same
Posted by: mike | December 5, 2011, 10:07 am 10:07 am
It is time to take back what is rightfully ours….
Posted by: G. Fawkes | December 5, 2011, 10:55 am 10:55 am