A lucky winner became an instant billionaire in this small downtown Los Angeles market (video)

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Originally published at: A lucky winner became an instant billionaire in this small downtown Los Angeles market (video) | Boing Boing

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“Both figures are before taxes.”

Does the “billionaires don’t pay taxes” rule start immediately on crossing that threshold or is it confined to those who’ve been born into it?

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It depends on how you set things up before you claim your winnings. Most poor people don’t know how to do that.

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Correction: an instant hundreds of millionaire. This person will walk away with around $200M after federal and state taxes (assuming lump sum payout which almost every jackpot winner chooses). Life changing money to be sure but let’s stop calling them a ‘billionaire’.

I’d like to congratulate the IRS for being the real lottery winner last night. Please be responsible with your newfound winnings.

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I hope the winner takes steps to seek guidance on how to navigate this situation. I don’t think California allows for lottery winners to remain anonymous so this could be inviting trouble.

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That might be a slight exaggeration. According to an article I just read in the Sacramento Bee the winner would be expected to pay a total of $240M or so in Federal taxes, but there are no CA state taxes on lottery prizes, so the winner would still be able to keep more than half of the lump sum.

Definitely not a billionaire at any point, though. Even someone opting for the 29-year annuity wouldn’t be any more of a “billionaire” than a person who has an annual salary of $34k colleced over 29 years is a “millionaire.”

I know that’s a just a joke but still, the whole thing about the IRS being lucky is kinda a tired Republican talking point. They obviously don’t choose the tax rates themselves or get to keep the money they collect. The IRS itself is chronically underfunded, thanks to Republican lawmakers who want to protect their tax-cheat billionaire constituents.

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Yea, I just googled that - the name is released.
I don’t play the lottery (or otherwise gamble other than a low-stakes card game with friends) but if I did and won, I’d have someone book me a hotel room immediately.

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I like it when a Mom & Pop store sells the winning tickets because they get some money too.

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If I won the big one, I’d:

  • Hire a good accountant.
  • Retain a good lawyer.
  • Disappear from the public eye.

(in no particular order, as long as they all got done ASAP)

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