North Carolina retiree wins $344.6 million jackpot using fortune cookie numbers
A North Carolina man who says he based his Powerball entry on a fortune cookie he got from his granddaughter now has a fortune to celebrate. CBS affiliate WNCN in Raleigh reports retired retailer Charles W. Jackson Jr. stepped forward at North Carolina Education Lottery headquarters on Tuesday to claim last weekend's $344.6 million jackpot.
Jackson chose the $223 million lump sum payment and said he would donate some of it to several charities and give $1 million to his brother to make good on a deal they made.
Jackson initially thought he had won just $50,000 and was heading to Raleigh to collect, but looked again and saw he'd won a lot more.
"I said, 'Dang, I got them all,'" he said at the news conference.
He also said he had to find the jackpot amount on Google because he doesn't watch television news. Once he did, he told his wife, "You ain't going to believe this - I got it all."
Jackson said he hopes the windfall doesn't change him.
He added, "I'm still going to wear my jeans - maybe newer ones."
Jackson said plans to give some money to St. Jude's, Shriner's Hospital and the Wounded Warrior Project.
Lottery officials said it's the largest jackpot ever won in North Carolina involving a single ticket, WNCN reported. It's the fifth time a North Carolina ticket claimed a Powerball jackpot.