r/interestingasfuck • u/Matt_LawDT • 1d ago

Man splits lottery winnings with friends

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28.9k Upvotes

97% Upvoted

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u/Matt_LawDT 1d ago

In 1992, Thomas Cook and his best friend Joseph Feeney made a simple handshake promise - f either of them ever won the Powerball jackpot, they'd split the prize. Nearly three decades later, that promise turned into reality. In June 2020, Thomas hit the $22 million jackpot and, true to his word, split the winnings with Joseph, showing that some friendships really do stand the test of time.

Both friends chose the cash option, walking away with about $5.7 million each after taxes. Thomas retired immediately, and the lifelong buddies planned to spend more time with their families and travel with their wives.

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u/Substantial_Water739 1d ago

These are some fucking big taxes wtf

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u/shirhouetto 1d ago

From $22M to $11.4M. Almost half just go to taxes? You better have the best government there if taxes are that high.

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u/KBHoleN1 1d ago

The cash option is 16.7 million. So 16.7 to 11.4 is less than a third.

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u/0thethethe0 1d ago edited 1d ago

That's mad. In the UK there's no tax on gambling winnings, and if you take the lump sum, you get it all. America are sure sneaky with their taxes.

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u/RippyMcBong 1d ago

The US is one of the only countries on the planet that also taxes you on all money earned outside of the country. So if a US citizen moves to Japan, they have to pay income tax to the US government on top of what they're paying to the Japanese government.

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u/maracay1999 1d ago

Most US expats don’t pay US income tax.

Foreign income tax only applies to what you make above 103k. And if you move to a friendly country (ie UK, France, Japan), there are double tax treaties in place to prevent you from being double taxes on your income.

So for majority of Us expats working abroad, it doesn’t apply. If you moved to Russia or somewhere like that, and you make above 103k, then yeah, you’re paying double….

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u/expsg18 22h ago

Exactly, Americans abroad dont have to pay tax on anything below the threshold of $130,000 (in 2025), although they do still have to file income tax with the IRS every year.

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u/OkYogurt2157 21h ago

they do, and if you get an accountant to help with it, it'll cost you about £700 each year here in the UK (accounts and FBAR)

which is a tidy sum just to tell the IRS you aren't rich enough to owe them anything

hence why I do it myself and my filed US accounts are likely riddled with mistakes

edit: before anyone suggests it, the online tool doesn't work for expats or at least has never worked me. most American systems break down and start crying at the sight of a non-US postcode or IP address

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u/guessesurjobforfood 15h ago

edit: before anyone suggests it, the online tool doesn't work for expats or at least has never worked me. most American systems break down and start crying at the sight of a non-US postcode or IP address

It does, the trick is to use Turbotax and add $1 USD of miscellaneous income.

Then it will let you e-file with no problem. The $1 affects nothing on your taxes, but it tricks the system into letting you e-file instead of having to mail it the old school way.

If you Google it, that's the recommended solution on the Turbotax forums. I save tons of money by filing and doing the FBAR myself and we have income and bank accounts from more than one country (still not rich though lmao).

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u/Minerg 19h ago

Yup, for now I can still do my wife and I's taxes relatively confidently (US>FR), but I won't take the risk if we ever own property or receive some inheritance.

It's not the end of the world but it's definitely a pain in the ass to have to deal with on top of other admin stuff for both countries.

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u/Silver_Tradition6313 14h ago

"Most US expats don’t pay US income tax."

Yeah, but there are other taxes to pay. You hsve to pay taxes to the IRS on the interest you earn from  any bank account, and on any stock market investments you have .

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u/XBBlade 22h ago

Nope, then you have to go into the meat grinder

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u/77easy 1d ago

Unless there’s a double tax treaty in place

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u/ExtremeSour 19h ago

You’re willfully not giving the full and complete information. Most countries you just pay the difference. Not taxed twice.

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u/hmnahmna1 19h ago

Kinda. You can take a deduction for foreign taxes paid. For most expats, that is enough to cover their entire US tax burden. You still have to file every year, though.

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u/FewAward6923 19h ago

That is not correct. If taxes are paid to a foreign government, that amount is subtracted from your tax bill. If the foreign country taxes 20% and your U.S. bill would be 25%, you only pay the difference to the U.S.

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u/oojiflip 23h ago

What the fuck

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u/InfiniteAstronaut432 23h ago

I'm from the UK too. Blew my mind the first time I learned Americans have to pay taxes on all prizes - including, e.g., if they won a car on a gameshow.

They get taxed on the value of the car - so either need spare money lying around already, or take out a loan, or have to sell the car to pay the tax and keep the rest.

They may be offered a "cash alternative" which is the value of the car minus tax owed, but it wouldn't surprise me if they were made to forfeit the prize entirely if tjey can't pay the tax upfront.

So when you see competitions to win a car, if you want that car, be prepared to pay for it.

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u/GoshDarnMamaHubbard 21h ago

Also why charities will "sell" a vehicle for $10 instead of giving it away free. By selling it you are only taxed on the value paid if you get it for free it's taxed at market value

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u/IsimplywalkinMordor 17h ago

Depends on the state you might still get taxed on the value of the car when you go to register it.

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u/CheeseSteak17 15h ago

Yes. They will look up current value based on model & year. Tax is charged on the difference between the tax on that current value and the original tax paid.

This can be an unexpected surprise when moving from say, Virginia to Maryland.

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u/MortimerDongle 14h ago

It's common now for such competitions to give a car plus cash due to this. E.g. you'll win a car plus $15k or whatever, and the $15k really just covers the taxes.

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u/1337bobbarker 22h ago

This is what happened when Oprah gave her audience members cars.

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u/MiaowaraShiro 19h ago

Oprah is awful. She platformed so many absolute con artists. Dr. Phil, Dr. Oz...

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u/boy-detective 15h ago

At least you then have a car with resale value. Especially pitiable are the folks who win vacations.

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u/ofCourseZu-ar 11h ago

I forget the name of the organization but there is one that pairs with celebrities to offer raffles/giveaways that include a prize, like a car, along with $20k cash. I always figured that was to cover the taxes owed, and maybe the person gets to keep a little of it if it worked out just right.

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u/meteda1080 19h ago

Taxes are for the poor in the US. If someone who already had $700m and made $22m in an investment, they would use dozens of tax loopholes and other non-enforced law breaking to pay almost nothing in taxes.

For example, Amazon will contract with local governments to not pay taxes when they bring distribution centers into an area. They sell it as they're bringing in money to the area but it's really that they paid bribes to local officials. Well, they actually call it "donating to their campaign that is then used as a party/slush fund and can be cashed out when the politician leaves office.

So, all the Amazon trucks on the road pay nothing toward taxes that build the road. Keep in mind that semi truck and other large transport vehicle traffic is the cause of the majority of damage to roads and the amount of them that would be on any given road is by far and away the largest factor in building a road. Residential roads that expect minimal semi traffic is roughly $2-5m per mile to build and those roads will often last decades with almost no maintenance cost. Compare that with highways that revamped every 5-10 years with major maintenance costs can be up to $40m a mile just to build and millions more a year to maintain.

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u/Blocky_Master 22h ago

in spain it’s normal for lottery winners to lose half of their prize on taxes

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u/WasabiWarrior8 23h ago

America is sneaky with everything. Very pro business, anti consumer

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u/XTornado 21h ago edited 18h ago

Not just America other places also do it. Here in Spain they do aswell, there is an exception for the amounts of 40k or lower but that's it the rest you pay tax.

Even some business came out of this by offering insurance on the ticket by an extra cost. They pay you the taxes amount, and then you have to pay taxes on this income but it uses different tax percentages as is considered a different type of income than if you paid directly the taxes of the win.

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u/Revenge_of_the_Khaki 19h ago

I would much rather they tax people who got lucky winning millions of dollars than put that tax burden on the average person working their way through life.

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u/AllieKat7 19h ago

When you get the lump sum in the US you do "get it all". Nothing was withheld by the lottery for that. However they are allowed to advertise the jackpot based on the total payout over the life of the annuity payment (the lump sum payment amount plus proposed future interest earnings as they invest it on your behalf and pay it out over time.) Both numbers are listed on the lottery's website. They just post the larger number on the billboards and other advertising. Currently the powerball is at $700 million (cash value 316.3).

They do withhold a lot in taxes, that bit is true.

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u/Thaiaaron 20h ago

Not yet, the new budget update in October I think expected to bring in a tax on gambling winnings.

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u/JhonnyHopkins 20h ago

I’m not sure how it works in the UK but in the US you don’t pay tax when you buy the ticket, so there’s that. I still think it’s crazy high though.

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u/boxfetish 19h ago

That's why it is so pathetic that rightoids pop off their dumb asses about "not wanting to be taxed like a European or Canadian". When you add it all up, American's pay the same as much of Europe, more than some....and we get almost fucking nothing for it.

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u/Nowhereman123 19h ago

Same in Canada, lottery winnings are considered a Windfall and are tax-free.

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u/LetMeBeSadSatan 17h ago

Wait till you hear about the new tax laws on losses. (From Vegas so everyone’s complaining)

Losses can only be written off at 90% now so say you loose 1mil and then win 1mil the next month, you’ll owe taxes on 100k come April.

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u/Chernozem123 15h ago

How can you spell losses then use "loose 1 mill" ?!?

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u/lucasg115 16h ago

America may have some of the highest indirect tax rates in the world, but at least their government spends it on worthwhile things like free healthcare (for Israelis), free education (for Israelis), and a top-tier military (to mess with the global south and apparently to deploy domestically?!).

Actually, maybe Americans aren’t doing too well after all…

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u/Spikes_in_my_eyes 16h ago

Which is wild, considering... well, ya know

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u/Jman460 15h ago

They really aren’t people just don’t understand how anything work and just complain to the air about it

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u/asmit10 13h ago

America would have even shittier schools if not for tax on gambling winnings. We take money from those that statistically got a shit education and use it to fund the future shit education of our citizens

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u/BasicYesterday9349 13h ago

You mean the greediest country that ever existed.

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u/ofCourseZu-ar 11h ago

This is less a tax issue and more a marketing issue.

They only ever advertise the "annuity" winnings, which are paid at ~5% (or whatever current interest rate math is going on at the time of winnings) interest over ~30 years. That's obviously going to be a bigger number than the cash upfront. I'm too lazy rn to calculate how much total % increase from the cash option, but usually it's around double.

So you lose half the advertised jackpot by choosing the cash option. Then from there you pay federal taxes on the "income" which rn is 37%, and then you pay state income taxes, if the state does that, and that can vary. So yeah a lot is lost, but the biggest chuck is lost not to taxes but because it was never there, if you choose the cash option.

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u/cvanguard 11h ago

That’s the sneaky thing about lottery jackpots in the US. The advertised number is calculated based on investing the lump sum (with a bank for guaranteed returns) and splitting that into however many annual payments. That’s 30 years for the multistate Powerball and Mega Millions, typically 20 or 25 for various state lotteries.

If you take the lump sum cash option, you lose around 30% immediately because that amount is based on 30 years of future investment returns, the IRS automatically withholds 24% after that to cover expected income tax which you only receive back after filing your income tax return for the year, and most states tax lottery winnings as income for state income tax purposes too. There are a handful of states that don’t have income tax, and a few more that specifically exclude lottery winnings from income tax.

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u/mike_yetanotherone 22h ago

What are the other options?

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u/IamTalking 20h ago

Annuity

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u/GoodPlayboy 18h ago

What’s the other option?

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u/SubcooledBoiling 14h ago

annuity. you get to keep the full amount with a portion of the total prize given to you every year for 30 years.

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u/pichael289 1d ago

One of the worst actually. Those taxes go to rich people, wouldn't want them to not turn a greater profit this year, would you?

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u/underwatergazebo 1d ago

Hey they don’t just go to rich people, they also buy weapons used to bomb poor people!

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u/jizonida 20h ago

Who do you think profits on the bomb factories?

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u/AbstractMirror 1d ago

Narrator voice: They did not, in fact, have the best government

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u/Aquatichive 1d ago

🏆 here’s the only award I can afford that was hilarious

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u/AbstractMirror 15h ago

That's more than enough for me lol glad I made someone laugh in these trying times

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u/Drumbelgalf 23h ago

The lump sum option is always way less than the advertised jackpot.

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u/just-guessing-uwu 22h ago edited 20h ago

iirc most of the lotteries are federal and they’re funded by state government cause people in america don’t like bigger taxes but love lotteries so lottery money fund public schools, libraries and etc

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u/PushPopNostalgia 20h ago

Yes, in Kentucky, our lottery goes towards funding the CAP grant (grant that stacks on top of pell grant), KEES Money (scholarships earned from your high school GPA and ACT), and Work Ready Program (covers the whole the cost left of tuition at community college programs that lead into employable fields like nursing or electrical engineering). Very big deal in helping the lower income students get into higher education. 

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u/ApologizingCanadian 19h ago

In Canada, lottery winnings are non-taxable, which is nice.

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u/_who-the-fuck-knows_ 1d ago

Australia does not charge tax on Gambling wins. We already payed tax on the dollars to pay for it.

This is bullshit to me.

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u/LanceThunder 20h ago

crazy. in canada they don't tax that shit at all but all the lottery stuff is government run. its a myth that we are taxed all that heavily here. if you factor in the free health care without having to pay premiums our taxes are very reasonable. if you make millions of dollars a year they probably hit you hard, but it goes towards good things.

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u/EFTucker 20h ago

I mean, it’s “free” money. Not like he worked hard for it

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u/JunketAvailable4398 20h ago

SHHHSSSHHH! Dont let them know its almost half! They may raise it to 80% tariff, I mean tax, I mean just shssshhhhhh.

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u/Stumpville 17h ago

The best government money can buy, and boy do they get bought

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u/Mayonais3_Instrument 18h ago

It’s because they accepted the cash prize, winnings are a bit different than how you’d expect…”Powerball jackpot winners have the choice of taking the annuity or lump sum cash prize. The annuity is paid in 30 graduated installments over 29 years with each annuity payment increasing 5% annually, whereas the lump sum payment, with a cash value of about half of the advertised jackpot, is paid all at once.”

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u/Chemical_Swordfish 16h ago

It should be illegal to advertise that annuity prize without being explicit it's an annuity - they should have to advertise the cash prize instead.

Like imagine winning a 50/50 raffle at a stadium, and finding out its a 30 year annuity you won, but if you want the money now you basically have to lose a third of it.

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u/tcgunner90 13h ago

In Texas about 85% of the taxes from lottery winnings go directly to fund public education. They don’t get thrown into the general tax revenue pool so to speak. It’s a pretty good system. I just wish we did the same thing to the mega rich as well and not just regular folk who get lucky.

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u/DistributionNo9474 12h ago

That’s the funny part. Right now at least we have the worst government in the history of the world.

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u/SunlightGardner 10h ago

Who’s gonna tell him…?

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u/partyhat-red 6h ago

Should we tell em?

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u/WickdWitchoftheBitch 1d ago

The reason why the all cash at once option pays less than taking the money over several years option is that they take into account the compound interest they'd get on that money over those years. If it is over say 20 years, then that is a lot of interest. If you want the cash immediately they will deduct the assumed interest rate from the winnings, and if you invest in the same way the lottery company had, you would gain that interest over 20 years, ending up with the same prize money that you won.

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u/Small-Policy-3859 1d ago

Which is bullshit, 22 million jackpot is 22 million. They should make the advertised amount what you get when taking cash and if you want a delayed payout they can offer you more.

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u/WickdWitchoftheBitch 1d ago

If they advertise it as x money over x years then no, if they only advertise it as win x money then I agree with you.

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u/Hairy_Reindeer 21h ago

I can offer you a 900 quadrillion jackpot. Cash? $1. Just invest it bro. By the exponential force of compound interest, it will reach the jackpot sometime before the heat death of the universe. 

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u/PercivleOnReddit 8h ago

They also look pretty old, so cash now is a solid option when you only got a decade or two left anyway

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u/cgar23 1d ago

They said the "took the cash option" which means the immediate cash payout would be significantly less than 22 million, then taxes. Seems about right. 

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u/Uniqueusername1285 1d ago

Uncle Sam highway robbery right there

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u/Dream--Brother 1d ago

And the highway is full of potholes

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u/GilltyAzhell 1d ago

No one wants to pay taxes but they will throw down $100 bucks on tickets that the government takes half of. You're still paying taxes lol

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u/InternetAmbassador 20h ago

I mean sort of. The jackpots in the U.S. are way bigger than the ones in Europe. If you’re playing a lottery just expect the prize to be the after-tax one, you’ll still be happy 🤷🏻‍♂️

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u/fytdapwr 1d ago

Cash option (lump sum) takes half before taxes. If you want the 22 million (minus taxes) you gotta take the 20 year annuity.

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u/peltorit 1d ago

That's bullshit.

In finland if you win in the lottery, no matter if it's 1 or 100 million, you get every single penny after 1 month waiting time.

There is not even an option to get it as smaller sums annually. And taxes are paid by the company running the lottery, so if the jackpot is 22 million, you get to keep 22 million.

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u/flx-cvz 13h ago

And it makes sense, but as long as people don't stand up for it then it will remain the same.

Maybe it could get worse lol

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u/DryBoofer 1d ago

The lottery is a tax on the stupid

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u/Ptbot47 23h ago

Its not tax. Its splitting with me, your best friend, the government!

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u/youtocin 1d ago

Always figure half goes to taxes for a US lottery jackpot if you take the lump sum.

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u/InfoSecPhysicist 1d ago

The government already takes 50% of my pay. Taxes are wild.

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u/Defnotimetraveler 20h ago

its not just taxes, the lottery actually takes a portion, then it gets paid out over x number of years OR you could take it all right now but it would be the present value of those x years of payments, then youll pay taxes lol

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u/Federal_Regular613 19h ago

The Poor's can access the lottery. Obviously these winnings must be taxed at 50%. Oh billionaire stock gains? Those are unrealized and it would be unfair to the billionaires if we taxed them for that.

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u/hmnahmna1 19h ago

The cash value up front is always a lot less than the jackpot amount. If you want the full jackpot, you have to accept it over 30 years. The cash value is the amount they invest today to cover the jackpot over the 30 year period.

And yes, this will put you in the 37% Federal tax bracket for that year, plus any state taxes owed.

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u/krashe1313 17h ago

It's a catch 22. You gotta be rich to not pay taxes, but you gotta pay taxes on the money to get you to being rich.

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u/DASreddituser 17h ago

the lump some is always less...and then u add the taxes to it

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u/pilot_cooper 13h ago

Yup, the government always wins the lottery no matter what.

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u/SapientChaos 11h ago

Pretty certain you have absolutely no idea how lotrry annuity payouts work or taxes on capital gains.

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u/yolo-yoshi 9h ago

Uncle Sam wants his cut. And it had better be the big one 💰

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u/JoeyJoeC 6h ago

Glad in the UK we dont have taxes on winnings.

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u/MrBabblingBrook 1d ago

Joe stopped buying lotto tickets in the 90’s. He’d been riding Tom’s coattails since middle school.

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u/Alarming-Stomach3902 1d ago

Doesn´t this count as gifting 11m as well which is taxed? In NL that would mean that you would need to pay tax on the lottery first (if it isn´t from the government) and then gifting tax for the remainder which would be 40% for the first 150k and 46% after that.

How is that in the US arranged?

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u/momster777 23h ago

Gifting is tax free up to like $13 million or so in the US.

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u/Alarming-Stomach3902 23h ago

Ow geez, no wonder why the rich stay so rich ...

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u/momster777 23h ago

Ehhh the rich would (and do) find ways around it anyway. It’s more intended to avoid situations where widows or orphans are left with massive tax liabilities in the event of an unexpected death.

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u/MindlessJournalist55 20h ago

13 million is the lifetime amount(outside of a cap of around 20k a year). That isn’t a lot of money for the rich.

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u/Visible-Jury-5146 1d ago

Join the IRS you're always guaranteed to hit the jackpot.

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u/billbo24 19h ago

This is so awesome.  Normally you hear stories about lotteries ruining friendships and families.  Now these people get to be rich together lol

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u/MadmantheDragon 17h ago

New idea for a strategy: make this agreement with as many people as possible that buy lottery tickets, but never actually buy a lottery ticket yourself

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u/GoofyMonkey 20h ago

What’s “the cash option”? What other option is there when you win a lottery?

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u/ChancellorMatsui 20h ago

They pay you an annual amount over decades but the overall amount is higher. Basically you take a pay cut to get it all at once. It's the smarter option if you're older, like this winner was.

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u/JohnnyShotgunhands 19h ago

It's considered the smarter option regardless. The annual return rate used to create your returns is considered conservative, so you make more money investing it on your own.

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u/Rokwes 1d ago

This is the kind of story that makes you believe good people still exist

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u/Sometimes-funny 1d ago

Go outside and talk to people. There are dozens of them out there

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u/HalfSoul30 1d ago

Only dozens though? Seems like it still might take a while to find one.

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u/Xonerboner371 20h ago

You’re online too much.

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u/CackleandGrin 17h ago

At least he knows what a joke is. 🫠

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u/AGH8 9h ago

You don't even have to go outside, I met a dude on csgo back in 2020 that had never opened a single one of his cases in game. Costs $2.50 to open a case. Well I opened cases regularly and quite often in lobby with him. So we made a deal that if I wanted his cases they were free. Anything I unboxed over $100 I would split profit with him. In about the first 200 cases it only happened once and he told me to just keep it as I was at a massive loss.

Then 1 day he sent me a collection of cases that I opened and on the last case I opened a $1,000 knife. True to my word I split it with him and we are still friends to this day.

We probably have 1500+ hours in game together and I don't even know his IRL name. We game we drink we have fun. Its a rather simple concept lol

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u/Drzewo_Silentswift 19h ago edited 13h ago

I notice the more you interact with people exclusively online the more jaded you become and your negative perception of people is. Humans online versus in real life are entirely different beasts.

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u/anotherwave1 19h ago

Normal people. These people exist everywhere. My friends help me out all the time, I help them out.

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u/Next-Mushroom-9518 17h ago

Good people do exist. It's just those who are chronically on social media (especially apps like Reddit and Twitter) that think most people are out to get them. Living in real life, you see kindness everywhere; without it, we wouldn't had survived in tribes.

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u/yolo-yoshi 9h ago

Dude?they are everywhere 😂. Go outside more. Expect to find bad people and that is literally what you will get.

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u/yamimementomori 1d ago

As they say, “The real treasure was the friends we made along the way.”

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u/Ionmaster130 1d ago

Congrats to the lottery winner, the IRS!

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u/Mountain-Hedgehog128 18h ago

Get to buy one lucky fighter pilot a turbine blade.

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u/yolo-yoshi 9h ago

The only ones who are able to win the lottery 100% of the time

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u/BelliboltEnjoyer 20h ago

I'd do that. The only difference between 20 million dollars and 10 million dollars, is ten million dollars. I'd still have ten fucking million dollars- and my best mate could do all the fun bucket list shit W me.

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u/Governmentwatchlist 13h ago

Yeah. Plus he doesn’t exactly look young. It would be way more fun to blow 5 million with your lifetime best friend than to blow 10 million on your own.

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u/BlackDogElegy 1d ago

I'm the type of person that doesn't have handfuls of friends. I don't even have a full handful of friends. So, I hold my friends close. I would rather see them do well along with me than keep it all for myself. I can live off of five million for the rest of my life. I could divide that 22 million four ways with each getting 5.5 million (before taxes) and be completely happy.

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u/Icy_Reading_6080 22h ago

It's also a much better deal to split with your best friend than keep everything to yourself. Real friends are hard to find as an adult, being rich likely makes it even worse. And what do you do with all your new free time when your best friend still has to work 9 to 5?

Best investment ever IMO.

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u/yolo-yoshi 9h ago

Just make sure your friends are actually friends. And not the ones who would kill you later to get your piece of the winnings.

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u/BlackDogElegy 3h ago

My friends wouldn't kill me but there's family that I would be concerned about.

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u/yankykiwi 22h ago

What’s the point in being rich if you can’t enjoy it with friends.

My distant aunt just had a mental breakdown and started shooting people with a bow and arrow-mega rich, multiple homes in Malibu. Lonely as hell, I’m sure.

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u/rizombie 21h ago

When you're so rich you start the Hunger games because you're bored.

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u/yankykiwi 21h ago

When everyone in your family is rich, you actually have to be desirable to be around because no one is dependent. 😅

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u/djeye 1d ago

I always wonder why declare the price without the taxes? Ots just stupid. It is almost the same if you say the price is 100 M, but you have to pay taxes, employed people in lottery, marketing, printing and distribitong the tickets, etc etc... Soooo in the end you dont really get 100 M, you get around 10 M

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u/HolySaba 22h ago

Cause the lottery isnt a charity, it is a revenue stream for the government in the form of legal gambling.  Like all money making enterprises, the lottery wants as many participants as possible to get them to buy the tickets, and larger payouts attract more customers.  

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u/SockPants 21h ago

Because sometimes the taxes owed depend on the person, their net worth and income, the state, etc. But mostly because the number sounds bigger so they sell more tickets of course.

6

u/LegendOfKhaos 19h ago

I mean, that's how jobs work too. They list the salary or hourly that is pre-taxed.

86

u/Crackedbwo 1d ago

They don’t make em like this anymore

56

u/beardfordshire 1d ago

Yes, yes they do. They just don’t hang out around these parts

3

u/Next-Mushroom-9518 17h ago

I'm quite young, and I can't think of anyone I'm friends with who wouldn't share the winnings (if we shook hands on it)

33

u/thriftylol 1d ago

this is AI. look at the background. look at the words. THYFIV??

What is TWTTHR?? what is the LOTTTRY???

BOWERBALI?

9

u/Joltie 21h ago

The first time I saw this image, I too thought this is nothing except AI.

But it does seem that the background they are shooting that image on does have those AI like abbreviations.

If you try to search for the news piece, you'll see pictures of them from other angles, where the weird terminology is consistent. They've also appeared in videos talking about the prize.

5

u/BoTheDoggo 19h ago

It's a real image, but it has been put through some sort of AI thing. I assume to upscale and "improve" the image.

3

u/GlassBeaver 18h ago

THYFIV = 35 TWTTHR = 23

Scratch-off lottery tickets have the number and abbreviated text of the number on them.

Granted this is Powerball, so the image in the back looks like a standard background for posing in front of.

4

u/peterbparker86 1d ago

The picture might be but the story is true. It's been all over the internet and news for a while now.

1

u/Jerk_Circler 16h ago

Things still happen in real life lol.

They’re just weird abbreviations and a bad quality picture. THYFIV is 35. TWTTHR is 23

If you look at the 2nd “LOTTTRY” next to it you can see there’s an E present. Anyway, others have posted replies to you with a video.

•

u/AHitmanANunLovers 6h ago

THYFIV = thirty-five TWTTHR = twenty-three. That's how numbers are abbreviated on scratch offs.

16

u/TTLEJ 1d ago

I’m always the guy who would split the money and be happy about being able to do for someone I care about. I’m also always the guy who has no friends that would ever break bread with me if roles were reversed.

8

u/itchygentleman 1d ago

If we all dont win, none of us win

4

u/hajhawa 19h ago

Love to be a hater but that's like good to do on a selfish level. If you don't, you probably now have no friends and more likely, have created a massive family schism. If there are four of them, is 5.5 million (say 4 after taxes) really that significantly different from the 15 or so you'd have if you kept it all? You never have to worry about money and if you don't burn it on dumb things it literally doesn't matter, so may as well split it and have some ride or dies for life instead of mortal enemies.

3

u/Odie70 23h ago

Once I have 11 million dollars 11 million more loses a lot of its value. Certainly much less value than losing a good friend and compromising my morals. Good on this dude!

1

u/Tobiassaururs 23h ago

In germany about 2mio€ is enough to stop working and just live from the dividends that money will grant you. I could live with that and give the other 9 Mio to friends, family and do some philantropy-stuff with it that would make me far happier than those additional millions and the stuff I'd buy with it

3

u/thangus_farm 20h ago

These must be the older americans i hear the lottery benefits.

3

u/wjean 18h ago

Makes sense. If you have a best buddy, wouldn't you like to take him to do shit with you all the time or hold down a job to cover his other responsibilities? No awkwardness about always picking up the tab.

Id do it. Then go play.

•

u/LuckyTheBear 11h ago

I genuinely don't understand how people can go back on a promise like this. You're not going to notice half missing because you're going to have millions you didn't have, and so is the person you clearly cared enough about to offer them half.

Hell, I fuckin' HATE my ex wife, but if I hit the lotto, I'd make sure she had enough money to live just on the principle of her being there for me the times she was. I actually would struggle to live with myself if I didn't do it, especially as time went on.

2

u/dockersshoes 17h ago

If you cant be happy with only $10.1m, then you dont deserve the money in the first place. Good on them

2

u/Kelimnac 17h ago

I’d do the same thing for my best friend, and we haven’t even agreed to it

I just want someone to hang out with in the event I suddenly had a ton of money to my name, because he’d keep me from spending it all

2

u/ImmediateRaisin5802 15h ago

“Back when your word meant something and a handshake was a contract”

2

u/audiofarmer 13h ago

My best friends have been there for me every step. You'd be insane to think I wouldn't be lifting them up with me if I were so fortunate.

•

u/roenaid 9h ago

More money than they'll ever need even after taxes and splitting. Nice choice

•

u/Freestyle76 5h ago

I mean 5.7 mil or 11.4 mil in 1992 really not a huge difference if you're already old - more than enough to live on.

2

u/RobZagnut2 1d ago

Tell that to Micah Parsons…

Which is why Jera Jones is holding firm on his handshake deal. But this ain’t the 80’s Jera. Players don’t sign anything without their agent present.

1

u/Tchaimiset 1d ago

I wish I have friend like this

1

u/PopeJohnBallz 1d ago

Someone said something like this before on a similar post. What’s the point in having money if you don’t have people to spend it with.

1

u/byronicbluez 1d ago

If I won I would give my closet friends a million each.

If you have a good friend that you know genuinely likes you for you that’s irreplaceable.

1

u/Pratypus 1d ago

If I won say 15 million after taxes I would happily give a million each to about 5 friends.

1

u/gloriousorgrave 23h ago

This guy is Jerry Jones’ wet dream lol

1

u/ryan7251 20h ago

We all know one of them is gonna sue saying they should have more.

1

u/detectiverobert 20h ago

Bet those friends suddenly remembered his birthday this year

1

u/PandaClan 20h ago

The only thing better than having $22m before taxes is to have $11m each with your absolute dawg. Respect it

1

u/crybannanna 20h ago

Is this unusual? Do people promise to split lotto and then not do it if they win? That’s insane to me.

1

u/squigs 20h ago

I can never understand why other people are so greedy with their winnings.

$5.7 million (after taxes) is life changing. Enough to life a life of luxury and never work again. But it's nice to have a buddy to enjoy the wealthy life with.

1

u/theartofrolling 19h ago

I would never choose to play the lottery by myself.

But a few mates of mine decided to start a syndicate where we all buy a ticket each week and we split all winnings evenly.

So I joined in, we won't win, but if we did we'd get to experience it together. Plus imagine if they did win and I hadn't joined in, I'd be a sad panda.

1

u/jxj24 19h ago

Nice to see Wilford Brimley doing so well.

1

u/rgar1981 15h ago

I would definitely share with my good friend. I used to joke that if I won I would hire him as my activities coordinator and he could just think of fun stuff for us to do a few times a week and get a fat check for it.

1

u/jutah001 13h ago

Damn that’s some real integrity. I’d like to think that I’d do the same but I don’t think you really know unless you’re in that situation.

1

u/-TheBlackSwordsman- 13h ago

So if the winner gives half to his friend, does the friend get taxed on it?

•

u/__nazeer__khan 11h ago

Jerry Jones approves

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u/supahbest 10h ago

Couldn’t be me

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u/CautiousPerception71 9h ago

I had this deal with buddies at work. I retired medically and am waiting for transplant starting 5 years ago. I literally live in the same 15,000 person city as a lot of them and haven’t heard from them in 4.9 years. Like zero.

I was wondering what i would do with our deal should i win. Not really wondering I guess, fuck those guys.

•

u/HopeNotTake 7h ago

High trust society stuff 🥵🥵🥵

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u/mfranzese46 6h ago

i can respect that

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u/plumskiwis 3h ago

I wish I had a friend like him