Winner Now Emerges For $1.12 Billion Lottery Ticket Sold At Neptune ShopRite

NEPTUNE TOWNSHIP, NJ — A winner has emerged. The person who won the history-making $1.128 billion Mega Millions jackpot sold at the Neptune Township ShopRite in March of this year has now come forward to claim their winnings.

Unfortunately, this person has chosen to remain anonymous. The NJ Lottery said Monday they cannot reveal who won the historic jackpot, not even revealing their gender or whether they are a Monmouth County resident.

"We can’t release any potentially identifying information about the winner," said NJ Lottery spokesman Michael Boone Monday. "All we can say is the winning ticket was purchased on March 26 at the ShopRite Liquor in Neptune in Monmouth County."

This was the largest jackpot ever won in New Jersey, and the fifth largest jackpot in the history of the lottery in America. While the initial prize was $1.128 billion, the winner will receive the cash value, which is $537.5 million before state and federal taxes are taken out.

The ticket was sold in the liquor section of the Neptune ShopRite, located on Rt. 66. The Saker-owned ShopRite was given a $30,000 bonus check for selling the history-making ticket.

The ticket matched the winning numbers of 07, 11, 22, 29 and 38 as well as the Gold Mega Ball number 04 and the multiplier number of 02.

In New Jersey, Lottery winners have one year from the date of the drawing to file a claim before the ticket expires. It is common for large jackpot winners to take their time to file a claim.

A 2020 New Jersey law allows lottery winners to remain anonymous indefinitely, and the identity of winners will not be included in materials available to public inspection under New Jersey's Open Public Records Act. Lottery players who won at least $600 must still provide their identity to Lottery officials to claim a prize.

The largest jackpot in American lottery history was $1.602 billion and won by a Florida player in August 2023. As of Monday, Dec. 23, the current Mega Millions jackpot is now $970 million heading into Tuesday's drawing. If nobody wins Tuesday or this Friday, it will be above one billion for the final drawing of the year, held Dec. 31.