A 79-year-old man from Beaverton, Oregon, has won a staggering $328.5m Powerball jackpot drawn on 18 January, becoming one of only seven such winners from the state since 2005. Abbas Shafii, was quoted saying he plans to use this third-largest lottery prize in the state’s history to travel, make investments, and donate to non-profits that are close to his heart.
On the day before his win, Shafii had only a 1 in 292 million chance of winning when he bought a ticket from a local Fred Meyer store. These odds are equally compared to flipping a coin and getting heads 28 times in a row or the chances of getting struck by lightning in one’s 80-year lifetime.
Shafii’s ticket had the winning numbers 14, 31, 35, 64, 69, and a Powerball of 23. He opted to receive his prize in a one-off $146.4m cash payout after tax, rather than spread it over 29 years.
His win has also ensured a $100,000 bonus to the store he bought the ticket from. The store has pledged to donate half of the bonus to the Oregon Food Bank under a campaign titled Zero Hunger | Zero Waste.
Powerball, a lottery that has been running for 33 years across 45 states, Washington DC, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands, has contributed over $16.5bn to various civic causes including economic development, public education, state parks and veteran services in Oregon alone.

Source: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/feb/25/powerball-prize-winner-oregon