California woman identified as $1.2B Mega Millions jackpot winner

The lucky person who landed an over $1.2 billion Mega Millions jackpot in California has been revealed. 

The California Lottery said a woman named Rosemary Casarotti was the holder of the Mega Millions ticket that won the $1.269 billion grand prize from Dec. 27’s drawing, landing her the fifth-largest jackpot in the lottery’s history. 

Of the two options that Mega Millions jackpot winners have to claim their prize, Casarotti took the one-time cash payout and pocketed $571 million in winnings, per the California Lottery.

The other option, which she did not choose, was receiving the windfall as an annuity over 29 years.

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The California Lottery said Casarotti wanted to “remain as private as possible” and “declined to participate” in the press conference revealing her identity.

“I had the pleasure of speaking with Rosemary by phone following her win, and I can tell you with certainty how grateful she is and how happy she is to have won this money and to have supported public schools,” California Lottery spokesperson Carolyn Becker said in a statement. 

The state lottery “was able to raise an estimated $89.5 million for public schools” due to the $1.2 billion Mega Millions win, according to California Lottery Director Harjinder Shergill-Chima.

The over $1.2 billion jackpot that she won from a ticket bought at a Sunshine Food and Gas Circle K location in Cottonwood, California, had grown to its eye-popping size over the course of 31 drawings, according to Mega Millions. 

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The winning numbers were 3, 7, 37, 49 and 55 for the white balls and 6 for the gold Mega Ball, the lottery said at the time of the late December jackpot win. 

Including Casarotti’s $1.269 billion grand prize on Dec. 27, Mega Millions only saw two billion-dollar jackpots scored by players in 2024. The other supersized jackpot, worth $1.128 billion, was won in New Jersey in late March of last year, according to Mega Millions. 

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There were also two nine-figure grand prize wins in 2024. 

Mega Millions’ largest-ever jackpot win was a whopping $1.602 billion. The drawing for that massive windfall took place in August 2023.