847 Million Dollar Powerball Winner Still a Mystery as New Jersey Lottery Urges Players to Check Tickets

The 847 million Powerball winner is still a mystery: a single ticket sold in New Jersey won the jackpot in the Wednesday, November 4, 2026 drawing, and as of Thursday afternoon, November 5, nobody knows who holds it.

The winning ticket was bought from an automated lottery machine at a Wegmans Food Market in Montvale, in Bergen County. The final prize is 847 million dollars paid as an annuity, or a one-time cash payment of 363.1 million dollars, before taxes. New Jersey Lottery Executive Director James A. Carey held a press conference at the store on November 5 and urged players to check their tickets, because the winner has a full year to claim the prize and New Jersey law lets winners stay anonymous.

Quick Facts

The 847 Million Powerball Winner’s Ticket Came From a Wegmans in Montvale

The winning ticket was sold on Tuesday morning at the Wegmans Food Market in Montvale, a town in Bergen County in northern New Jersey. It was bought from one of the automated lottery machines inside the store, not from a staffed counter. That detail matters for the search, because there is no clerk who might remember the buyer and no obvious trail to follow. The buyer may have been a regular shopper, a commuter stopping in on the way to work, or a visitor passing through town.

Montvale itself has become part of the story. It is one of the wealthiest towns in New Jersey, with a median household income of more than 178,000 dollars, about twice the national average, according to data from the US Census Bureau. That fact has fueled a wave of speculation, but speculation is all it is. A ticket bought in a wealthy town does not mean the winner is wealthy. Lottery players come from every income level, and a grocery store on a busy road serves workers, shoppers, and travelers from far beyond its own zip code.

The Press Conference and the Search for the Winner

On Thursday, November 5, New Jersey Lottery Executive Director James A. Carey held a press conference at the Montvale Wegmans to announce the details and to send a direct message to players. His message was simple: check your tickets. Millions of tickets were sold for the Wednesday drawing, and the winner may not even know they played the right numbers. People buy tickets and forget them, tuck them into pockets, or leave them sitting on a counter for days.

The press conference also confirmed the final prize figures. The advertised jackpot before the drawing was 835 million dollars, but stronger than expected ticket sales pushed the final prize to 847 million dollars. Our earlier report on this win, published on November 5, used the preliminary 835 million dollar figure and a 357.9 million dollar cash figure. The final figures are 847 million dollars for the annuity and 363.1 million dollars for the cash option. You can read our first report here: Powerball 835 Million Dollar Jackpot Won in New Jersey.

As of Thursday afternoon, the winner had still not been identified and had not claimed the prize. That is normal for a jackpot of this size. Winners often take days or even weeks to come forward. Some do not check their tickets right away. Others check them, realize what they have won, and then take time to hire a lawyer and a financial adviser before contacting the lottery. In New Jersey, that caution is easier, because state law allows winners to remain anonymous indefinitely.

The lottery has one year to find out who holds the ticket. The claim deadline is November 4, 2027. If nobody claims the prize by then, the money goes back to the state, but that almost never happens with a jackpot this large.

The Money: Annuity or Cash

The winner faces a choice that will shape the rest of their life. The full 847 million dollar prize is paid as an annuity: 30 payments that increase each year over 29 years. The other option is a single cash payment of 363.1 million dollars, before taxes. Most jackpot winners take the cash, even though the total is far smaller, because they want the money now and under their own control. Financial advisers usually say the annuity is the safer choice, because it protects against overspending and guarantees income for decades.

Taxes will take a large share either way. The federal government takes 24 percent of lottery winnings, and New Jersey takes 8 percent on winnings over 500,000 dollars, according to state lottery guidance. That means the cash payment of 363.1 million dollars would shrink considerably after taxes, and the annuity payments would be taxed each year as they arrive. Even after taxes, the prize is life-changing wealth, enough to change the lives of the winner, their family, and anyone they choose to help.

The scale of the money is hard to grasp. A prize of 847 million dollars is larger than the annual budgets of many small cities. For comparison, even huge swings in the fortunes of the world richest people, like the recent selloff that cost Elon Musk billions, are measured in the same order of magnitude as this single lottery prize. You can read about that here: Elon Musk Loses 80 Billion in Net Worth in Tesla and SpaceX Selloff.

A Record Run and New Jersey History

The jackpot did not grow overnight. It rolled through 35 consecutive drawings without a winner, starting after an Illinois player claimed a 1.04 billion dollar prize on August 12, 2026. For nearly three months, the prize climbed drawing by drawing as millions of people bought tickets and nobody matched all six numbers. More than one million tickets won cash prizes in the Wednesday drawing alone, but only one ticket matched all six numbers.

The win is the ninth-largest jackpot in Powerball history, a list topped by prizes over one billion dollars. It is the second-largest jackpot ever won in New Jersey. The largest in the state was a 1.128 billion dollar ticket bought at a ShopRite in Neptune in March 2024. That winner also stayed anonymous. It is the 12th time New Jersey has produced a Powerball jackpot winner, and the first since an anonymous player claimed 222.6 million dollars on June 10, 2024.

New Jersey has a strong record in the Powerball game. The state has produced more than a dozen jackpot winners, and several have chosen to stay anonymous. The anonymity rule is popular with winners, because people know they will not be forced into the spotlight if they win. There is no name, no photo, and no press conference with the winner. There is only a ticket, a store, and a mystery.

What Happens Next

The jackpot now resets to 20 million dollars for the next Powerball drawing on Saturday, November 7, 2026. After every jackpot win, the prize starts over at 20 million dollars and begins climbing again if nobody wins.

Meanwhile, the Mega Millions jackpot stands at 505 million dollars, with its next drawing on Friday, November 6. Players who missed out on Powerball now have another half-billion dollar prize to chase. The two games often feed off each other, with big jackpots in one game driving interest in the other.

The lottery run also brought a windfall beyond the jackpot itself. New York ticket sales during the run generated 38 million dollars combined for public schools and retailers, including 32.4 million dollars for New York K-12 public schools. That is how the lottery works in most states: a share of every ticket goes to public programs, win or lose.

For the winner, the next step is simple but not easy: check the ticket, sign the back of it, keep it safe, and call a lawyer before calling the lottery. A ticket worth hundreds of millions of dollars is a bearer instrument, and anyone holding it can claim it. New Jersey gives winners a full year, so there is no reason to rush.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much is the Powerball jackpot worth?

The 847 million Powerball winner’s prize is 847 million dollars as an annuity, paid in 30 increasing payments over 29 years, or a one-time cash payment of 363.1 million dollars, before taxes.  The advertised figure before the drawing was 835 million dollars, but higher than expected ticket sales pushed the final prize to 847 million dollars.

Where was the winning Powerball ticket sold?

The ticket was sold on Tuesday morning from an automated lottery machine at Wegmans Food Market in Montvale, Bergen County, New Jersey. Montvale is one of the wealthiest towns in New Jersey, with a median household income of more than 178,000 dollars, about twice the US average, according to US Census Bureau data.

Has the winner claimed the prize?

No. As of Thursday afternoon, November 5, the winner had still not been identified and had not claimed the prize. New Jersey Lottery Executive Director James A. Carey held a press conference at the store on November 5 and urged players to check their tickets. Winners have one full year to claim, until November 4, 2027, and New Jersey law lets winners remain anonymous indefinitely.

What are the winning Powerball numbers?

The winning numbers for the Wednesday, November 4, 2026 drawing were white balls 15, 34, 41, 53, 56, and red Powerball 21, with a Power Play multiplier of 2x. More than one million tickets won cash prizes, but only one matched all six numbers.

Sources

New York Post: 847M Powerball Winner Remains a Mystery

New York Post: 847 Million Powerball Ticket Sold in One of New Jerseys Wealthiest Towns

MyNewsLA: 847 Million Powerball Jackpot Won in New Jersey

Final Thoughts

Some lottery stories end the moment the numbers are drawn, with a name, a face, and a celebration. This one is different. The numbers are known, the store is known, and the prize is known, but the winner is not. Somewhere in New Jersey, a person — the 847 million Powerball winner — is carrying a piece of paper worth 847 million dollars, and they may not know it yet. Whenever they find it, their life will change in an instant, and thanks to New Jersey law, we may never learn who they are. Until then, the advice from the lottery is the same for everyone: check your tickets.