The $2B Powerball Winner Was Spotted For The First Time & Here’s How He’s Spending The Jackpot
He was making money moves.
A person holding a Powerball Lottery ticket. Right: Altadena, CA.
The Powerball Lottery winner Edwin Castro made his first public appearance yesterday, and in true billionaire fashion, he was making money moves at the bank. So, what's he been up to with his newfound wealth?
After several unrelenting months of no Powerball winners in 2022, the California resident won the record-breaking $2 billion jackpot prize in November on a ticket he bought from a gas station.
Castro, a 31-year-old former mechanic and architecture graduate, claimed his earnings only in February of this year, choosing the take-home cash value of $997.6 million, which is the largest single winning ticket in United States history.
Now, Castro was spotted on Wednesday for the first time since winning, and where he was and who he was with is giving everyone some insight into how he's spending his jackpot. The New York Post spotted Castro, not quite looking the sharp-dressed billionaire part in sweats and flip-flops. He was seen leaving a Chase Bank holding a thick white envelope.
However, he wasn't alone as he was surrounded by newly hired bodyguards, who reportedly work 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
This wasn't the newbie billionaire's first "splurge," so to speak. That happened back in March when he dropped $4 million on a new home for himself in the hills of his hometown Altadena, CA, just a couple weeks after he spent $25.5 million on a Hollywood Hills home with awesome amenities, several bedrooms, an infinity pool, and a movie theatre.
According to Dirt, Castro also moved into a 5-bedroom, 4-bathroom modern-style, Japanese-inspired abode that sprawls across a massive 4,361 square feet.
Castro's life has seemingly changed in a matter of months, but he's most grateful that The Golden State's public schools get in on his huge money prize as well.
"As much as I am shocked and ecstatic to have won the Powerball drawing, the real winner is the California public school system," Castro said in a statement to Powerball back in February.
Over the long time it took to find a Powerball winner back in 2022, Californians just kept buying tickets, which, in turn, benefited the California Lottery's public school funding mission with an extra $156.3 million going to Cali school kids.