Powerball · United States · 10 February 1999
Schultz was working the counter at an Iowa gas station and sold the winning Powerball ticket to himself. He has said he had dreamed about winning months before the February 10, 1999 draw.
Advertised prize
$28,000,000
Cash value $15,922,377
Ticket
Not documented
Outcome
Went well
Still comfortable, by the most recent reporting.
Timothy Schultz was 21, living in his parents' basement, studying part-time and earning minimum wage at an Iowa gas station when the February 10, 1999 Powerball drawing made him a $28 million winner. He had sold the winning ticket to himself at the counter where he worked. The Iowa Lottery lists the prize under the Timothy E Schultz Revocable Trust of Des Moines, with a recorded date of 3/8/1999; a compilation of Iowa Lottery figures puts his lump sum at $15,922,377. Schultz has said he dreamed about winning months earlier and had joked to friends that it would happen, and that the win itself felt surreal. He paid off debt, helped family, bought vehicles and travelled, then finished a degree in film and broadcast journalism. The balance went into stocks, bonds and mutual funds, and he has lived on the returns since. He produced documentary and animation work, founded a film festival, and hosts the podcast now titled Dreams & Fortune with Timothy Schultz (formerly Lottery, Dreams and Fortune), interviewing other winners. He tells audiences the lottery should be played for fun, that buying more tickets does not meaningfully shift the odds, and that the hardest part was telling real friendships from those built on his money.
As of September 2026 Schultz is still living off the returns on his invested winnings and working as a filmmaker, journalist and podcaster. His show, now titled "Dreams & Fortune with Timothy Schultz", published a new episode on 9 September 2026, and he gave interviews in July 2026. His website announces a forthcoming memoir, described as "a memoir 26 years in the making".
One detail worth keeping
He sold himself the winning ticket - he was the gas station attendant working the counter where it was bought.
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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