Sharon Tirabassi

Sharon Tirabassi was a single mother in Hamilton, Ontario — recently off social assistance and newly working as a personal care provider — when she won a share of the Lotto Super 7 jackpot over Easter weekend 2004. The Hamilton Spectator reported the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation cheque was for C$10,569,000.10. She did not hire a financial adviser and did not track the balance closely. She gave C$1 million to her parents and C$1.75 million split among four siblings. She bought a big house and four vehicles — a Mustang, a Dodge Charger, a Hummer and a custom Cadillac Escalade — took holidays in Cancun, Florida, Las Vegas, California and the Caribbean, bought Hamilton houses that she rented cheaply to low-income tenants, covered other people's rent, and made loans for bail and business ventures that were not repaid. When the balance reached about C$750,000 she stopped and put the remainder in trust for her children, payable when each turns 26. Nine years after cashing the cheque she was riding the bus to a part-time job and renting a house in northeast Hamilton. "All of that other stuff was fun in the beginning," she said. "Now it's like... back to life."

As of July 2023, UNILAD reported from a Toronto Star interview that Tirabassi was renting a home in Hamilton with her husband and children, working part-time and saying she was happier living simply; the money she set aside remains in trust for her children until each reaches 26. Her advice was to keep a win private and be careful who you trust.