The millionaire who won the jackpot
It may seem hard to believe that a man who was already a millionaire and then won a $315 million lottery jackpot would fritter it away — but Andrew “Jack” Whittaker did.
After capturing a record-breaking Powerball prize on Christmas Day in 2002, the resident of Hurricane, West Virginia, chose a lump-sum payout of $170.5 million. Whittaker planned to donate a large portion of his winnings.
“I’m getting really excited because of the good works I can do with this,” he told The New York Times.
Soon, the trouble started. He and his wife divorced. His granddaughter — who had appeared with him on national TV shows after he won the money — died under mysterious circumstances.
Whittaker started drinking heavily. He was robbed often and said he was battling more than 400 legal complaints at one point.
“I wish I’d torn that ticket up,” he told ABC News.
