Powerball, the world's largest lottery, arrives in the UK this week, offering a jackpot exceeding £300m. But one former winner, Andrew 'Jack' Whittaker, deeply regretted his $315m (£235m) win, calling it a curse that destroyed his life.
Jack Whittaker's win and initial actions
On Christmas Eve 2002, Whittaker bought a ticket at a supermarket in Hurricane, West Virginia. He won the largest single winning ticket in US lottery history. Already a successful businessman worth $17m, he chose a lump sum of $113m after tax. He donated $15m to build two churches and started the Jack Whittaker Foundation to help people with bills.
Problems and tragedies
Whittaker frequented a strip club called Pink Pony, where he left $50,000 cash behind the bar. He later claimed to have $1m in cash in his car, which was stolen after he was drugged. The money was found by a bin. Five months later, $200,000 was stolen from the same car at the same club. He also bought a Lamborghini and threw cash from windows.
In 2004, his granddaughter Brandi Bragg, 17, was found dead under a tarp. Whittaker had been giving her $2,000 weekly and bought her four cars. Divorce accountant Bob Rufus said: 'He gave a crazy stipend to his 17-year-old granddaughter and that attracted some bad characters: nothing good came of it.'
Legal and personal collapse
Whittaker faced a lawsuit from Caesars Atlantic City for a bounced $1.5m cheque for gambling debts. In 2008, his wife Jewell filed for divorce after 42 years; the Supreme Court later ruled she could access parts of his business assets. His daughter Ginger Whittaker Bragg died in 2009. His home burned down in 2016.
Whittaker told ABC News: 'I pretty much lost everything I had and held dear in my life. Money has never meant anything to me.' He added: 'My wife said she wished she'd torn the ticket up and I wish I had torn the ticket up too. I just don't like what I've become.'
He also offered cash for sex to a barmaid and $10,000 to another to pose in underwear. He was accused of sexual assault in a case that was settled. He told the Associated Press: 'I'm only going to be remembered as the lunatic who won the lottery.' Whittaker died of natural causes at age 72 in June 2020.
