Powerball Jackpot Skyrockets To $800 Million
CHICAGO (CBS) -- The record-breaking jackpot for the next Powerball drawing continued to grow Friday, ballooning to $800 million.
When no one one Wednesday night's $500 million Powerball drawing, the jackpot for Saturday night's drawing quickly rose to $675 million. By Thursday afternoon, the total was $700 million.
As of late Friday morning, Saturday's Powerball jackpot was at $800 million, with plenty of time to grow even larger by the 10 p.m. drawing. As it stands, if taken as a lump sum payment, a single winner in Saturday's drawing could take home $496 million before taxes.
The previous largest Powerball jackpot was $590.5 million, won by Gloria MacKenzie of Florida in May 2013. The previous largest overall lottery jackpot was a $656 million Mega Millions game split by three winners in March 2012, including Merle and Patricia Butler, of Red Bud, Illinois, who took home a $218.67 million share, the largest prize in Illinois Lottery history.
Could a $1 billion Powerball jackpot be on the horizon? Time will tell.