Edwin Castro won $2.04bn on Powerball. Here’s what he did with it

In November 2022 the Powerball jackpot in the US hit $2.04 billion, about £1.79 billion at the time. It was the biggest lottery jackpot the world had ever seen, and one ticket matched all six numbers.

That ticket came from Joe’s Service Center, a petrol station in Altadena, a town in the hills just outside Los Angeles. It belonged to Edwin Castro.

The night of the draw

The draw was meant to happen on the night of Monday 7 November. A problem processing sales data held it up for almost 10 hours, so the balls were finally drawn on the morning of Tuesday 8 November.

The winning numbers were 10, 33, 41, 47 and 56, with Powerball 10. The odds of matching all six were 1 in 292.2 million.

The petrol station’s owner, Joe Chahayed, got a $1 million bonus just for selling the ticket.

Three months before he came forward

Edwin didn’t claim straight away. The California Lottery named him as the winner on 14 February 2023, more than three months after the draw. California makes the names of big winners public, so staying anonymous wasn’t an option.

He took the cash lump sum of $997.6 million instead of 30 years of payments. After tax, that left him with roughly $628 million.

In a short written statement, he said he was very surprised and delighted, and glad the lottery helps fund schools in California.

Where the money went

Edwin bought houses. Lots of them. Over the next couple of years, that included:

• A $25.5 million mansion in the Hollywood Hills, with five bedrooms and six bathrooms.
• A $4 million Japanese-style house in Altadena, close to the petrol station where he bought the ticket.
• A $47 million home in Los Angeles with seven bedrooms, 11 bathrooms and an infinity pool.
• A $3.85 million house in Malibu looking out over the ocean.

He also picked up a vintage Porsche 911.

The court case

In 2023 a man called Jose Rivera went to court claiming he’d bought the winning ticket and that it had been stolen from him. Edwin, the California Lottery and the man Rivera said took the ticket were all named in the case.

In 2024 a Los Angeles judge threw out the claim against Edwin. Rivera couldn’t produce the ticket, and the judge said whoever holds a winning ticket is presumed to be its owner. The jackpot stayed with Edwin.

The fires

In January 2025 wildfires tore through Los Angeles. The Palisades fire destroyed Edwin’s Malibu house.

The Eaton fire hit Altadena at the same time, the town where his story started, and flattened whole streets.

What he’s doing now

Edwin has spent around $10 million on 15 plots of burned land in Altadena. He plans to build homes on them and sell them to families who want to live there, not to landlords looking to rent them out.

He told the Wall Street Journal he wants the area to feel like the old neighbourhood again. He was also clear he isn’t building the homes just to give them away.

Could a UK player win like this?

UK players can now buy Powerball through The National Lottery at £4 a line, and they play for the same jackpot as people in the US. There’s one big difference. A UK jackpot winner is paid over 30 years, so you couldn’t take a lump sum like Edwin did. UK players have won smaller prizes, though. In October 2026 a UK ticket won £1m, the third in 36 UK draws.

Our guide on how to play Powerball from the UK has the prizes, odds and UK draw times. For the latest numbers and jackpot, see Powerball results.

What other winners can learn

• Keep your ticket safe and sign it. The court case came down to who held the ticket. Our guide on what to do if you lose your lottery ticket explains why.
• You don’t have to claim the next day. Taking time to get advice first is normal.
• Houses cost money to run and insure, and as Edwin found out, they can be lost.