Wednesday's Powerball Jackpot Winner From Tennessee Confirmed

A Tennessee family has been confirmed as the owner of a jackpot-winning ticket, revealing the identity of one of the three winners of the record-breaking $1.6 billion Powerball jackpot for Wednesday, January 16’s drawing.

The family’s ticket was verified by lottery officials Friday after the family did an interview on the Today Show.

“A little scared because I didn’t know exactly what do to,’’ John Robinson told the show. “I knew that I wanted to get an accountant. I knew that I wanted to get a lawyer and try to follow the procedures that they tell you to follow.”

In Tennessee, lottery winners cannot remain anonymous.

The Robinsons were one of three winning tickets sold for Wednesday’s Powerball jackpot drawing, and almost $300 million in other non-jackpot prizes were won in the January 13, 2016, drawing that captured the attention of hundreds of thousands of people across America.

From California to New York and virtually all spots around the United States and even beyond, people tuned in to see if they would take at least a part of the world-record jackpot, which reached $1.586 billion.

The winning numbers were 4, 8, 19, 27, 34, with a Powerball of 10.

The California Lottery said a jackpot-winning ticket was sold at a 7-Eleven Chino Hills.

Lottery officials later said winning tickets were also sold at a Publix in Melbourne Beach, Florida, and Naifeh’s Food Mart in Munford, Tennessee.

Robinson bought the tickets on the way home from work, but went to bed before the drawing because he was tired, he told the Today Show.

His wife, Lisa, wrote the numbers down and woke him up Thursday morning at 4:30 a.m. once she triple-checked that they had the winning numbers, she told the show.

“We were up all night,’’ Lisa told the Today show. “We didn’t get any sleep.”

Lisa works in a dermatologist’s office but isn’t ready to retire just yet.

“”I’ll be there Monday,’’ she told her supervisor.

The Chino Hills, California Powerball winner identity was believed to be a worker at a nursing home, where the owner had distributed 18,000 tickets to employees.

But it turns out there was a “misunderstanding about the ticket,” and it was not a winner after all.

Experts say that if you win the lottery, you shouldn’t reveal yourself right away, and instead take time to assemble your team of financial advisors and let the hype die down.

Three jackpot winners means a three-way split of the ultimate jackpot, with winnings of only $500 million going to each winner.

It would also mean that the record for the single largest Powerball jackpot winner would remain unbroken.

Gloria MacKenzie from Zephyrhills, Florida, was the lone winner of a $590 million jackpot in May of 2013, according to Powerball.net. While Wednesday’s total jackpot was higher, the three-way jackpot split would mean MacKenzie still took home more money than any Powerball winner in history.

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In addition to at least three jackpot winners, 73 $1 million winners — people who matched all five numbers without the Powerball — were reported in 23 states. And eight people in seven states won a $2 million prize for matching all five numbers with a Power Play.

In all, 26,110,643 tickets won almost $273.9 million, according to Powerball’s website. That puts the total prizes for all Powerball winners was nearly $2 billion.

The winners included 76 New Jersey elementary school staffers splitting a $50,000 prize.

You can see a complete, detailed breakdown of Powerball winners from the January 13, 2016, drawing here. To check and see how much your Powerball ticket for January 13, 2016, is worth, click here.

The drawing Wednesday night capped a Powerball frenzy that consumed the nation’s attention for the better part of a week, after Saturday’s $900 million jackpot went unclaimed.

Stores selling Powerball tickets around the country were swarmed with eager ticket-buyers, as people dreamed of becoming instantly rich.

A winning ticket in Chino Hills was announced almost immediately, and the store was flooded with reporters and people who just wanted to witness a part of history.

A few hours later, winning tickets in Florida and Tennessee were also announced.

Now, the Powerball drops down to a humble $40 million jackpot for Saturday, January 16’s drawing.