Powerball · United States · 7 July 1993
Robins stopped at a Sentry Foods store in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, for contact lens cleaner using money his fiancée Colleen DeVries had given him, and bought a Powerball ticket while he was there.
Advertised prize
$111,000,000
Ticket
Not documented
Outcome
Went well
Still comfortable, by the most recent reporting.
Leslie "Les" Robins, a 30-year-old junior high school teacher in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, stopped at a Sentry Foods store for contact lens cleaner with money his fiancée, 24-year-old nurse Colleen DeVries, had given him, and bought a Powerball ticket. The draw of 7 July 1993 made it worth US$111 million, then a record American jackpot. The couple stayed out of sight for about two weeks before having the ticket validated in a Fond du Lac lawyer's office; UPI reported that the delay was costing them interest, and that the first of 20 annual cheques was then deposited at the National Exchange Bank in Fond du Lac. Days after the win The Washington Post reported that Robins planned to help his school. He left teaching and bought 226 acres near Lake Winnebago, where he built Camp Winnegator — a name combining the lake and the Florida Gators — a low-cost summer camp for children aged 6 to 16 with riding stables, a gym, a pool, a miniature golf course and lake access, run through a family foundation.
As of a 2021 account of the win, Robins had long since left teaching and ran Camp Winnegator, the 226-acre youth camp near Lake Winnebago he bought with part of the prize. Courthouse News reported that Robins and Colleen DeVries-Caliendo later sued over their annuity: a finance trust bought the rights to their remaining annual payments, paying each more than US$15.5 million in December 2000, and they claimed about US$1.1 million in unpaid interest after a Wisconsin tax refund was not passed on.
One detail worth keeping
Robins was only in the shop for contact lens cleaner — bought with money his fiancée had handed him — when he picked up the record-setting ticket.
Cheng 'Charlie' Saephan
Ended in tragedyPowerball · United States · 2024
$1,326,000,000
Laiza Chao joked to the Saephans before the draw that they were already "billionaires"; her $100 stake in a 20-ticket batch made it true.
Theodorus Struyck
Stayed privatePowerball · United States · 2023
$1,765,000,000
He bought the second-largest winning ticket in Powerball history about 500 yards from his own front door, at a cabin he had paid $90,000 for in 2010.
Edwin Castro
Went wellPowerball · United States · 2022
$2,040,000,000
The draw ran a day late: Minnesota's sales-verification system held up all 48 lotteries, so the $2.04bn numbers were drawn at 8:57 a.m. ET on 8 November 2022.
Manuel Franco
Stayed privatePowerball · United States · 2019
$768,400,000
He told reporters he had under $1,000 in his bank account when he spent $10 on the quick picks that won $768.4 million.
Cheng 'Charlie' Saephan
Ended in tragedyPowerball · United States · 2024
$1,326,000,000
Laiza Chao joked to the Saephans before the draw that they were already "billionaires"; her $100 stake in a 20-ticket batch made it true.
Theodorus Struyck
Stayed privatePowerball · United States · 2023
$1,765,000,000
He bought the second-largest winning ticket in Powerball history about 500 yards from his own front door, at a cabin he had paid $90,000 for in 2010.
Saltines Holdings, LLC (Miami, Florida)
Stayed privateMega Millions · United States · 2023
$1,602,000,000
The biggest Mega Millions winner in history is a company: Saltines Holdings, LLC of Miami. The Publix that sold the $2 Quick Pick collected a $100,000 retailer bonus.
Edwin Castro
Went wellPowerball · United States · 2022
$2,040,000,000
The draw ran a day late: Minnesota's sales-verification system held up all 48 lotteries, so the $2.04bn numbers were drawn at 8:57 a.m. ET on 8 November 2022.
Every figure and quotation above comes from these.
Last verified: 2026-09-13