Jonathan Vargas

Jonathan Vargas was a 19-year-old construction worker from Gaston, South Carolina when he matched all six numbers in the Powerball drawing of May 17, 2008 for an advertised $35.3 million. It was, he said, the first lottery ticket he had ever bought, purchased at a Raceway station in the Cayce area after he heard numbers in his head at work: 'I was at work one day and I heard numbers in my head. I went out and got me a ticket.' The line came from family - 12, 14 and 15 for the ages his younger siblings would turn that year, 21 for his older brother, 43 for his mother Patricia Richardson, and 30 as a guess for the Powerball. He took the cash option, reported at $17.3 million, and became the first South Carolina resident to win the game's jackpot. He said he planned to invest, give to his church, set up trusts for his siblings and buy his mother a house. In 2009 he founded Wrestlicious, a Tampa-based all-female wrestling promotion in which he appeared as 'JV Rich'. It debuted on March 1, 2010, ran a single 13-episode season, and a second season announced in May 2011 was never produced.

Wrestlicious ceased production after its single 2010 season, and a second season announced in May 2011 was never made. Vargas resurfaced in a CBS News feature published on 27 July 2016, saying he had put about $500,000 into the show and was "out nearly half a million dollars" when it folded, and that he regretted moving so fast: "If I had to do it all over again, I would recommend people just sit on it for a year — really decide what they want to do with it." He has otherwise stayed out of public view. As of 2026 there is no court, bankruptcy or news record supporting the widely repeated claim that he lost everything; the only documented loss is that roughly $500,000, against a $17.3 million lump sum.