You know that quote, “It’s your lucky day”? Well, one man in California took that to a whole new level, becoming $2.04 billion dollars richer overnight. Edwin Castro was just identified as the winner of the largest lottery jackpot in U.S. history, and yes, luck is definitely on his side.

This is where the record-breaking Powerball winner purchased his ticket

While Castro has not come forward for interviews, we know he purchased his winning ticket from Joe’s Service Center. The service station is located at 15 W. Woodbury Road in Altadena, in Los Angeles County. Castro won with the six numbers 10, 33, 41, 47, 56, and Powerball number 10.

The California resident was officially identified this week, but his winning Powerball ticket dates back to November 7, 2022. While it took months for Castro to come forward, state laws dictate that the California Lottery must share winners’ full names and where they bought their ticket. Subsequently, officials made the announcement yesterday with a symbolic check.

Castro’s statement about his historic win

That being said, Castro did not appear at the ceremony. He did release a statement though, saying he feels “shocked and ecstatic” about the win (we definitely would be too). The sweetest part of his statement? How happy he is for the California public school system. In fact, his big win brought in a record-breaking $156.3 million to California’s public schools, a lucky draw if we ever saw one.

Castro said, “The real winner is the California public school system… this a huge win for the state.”

He continued, explaining that he was “educated in the California public education system” himself. He describes how “gratifying” it is to see his win giving back to that same school system.

This is the amount Castro is actually taking home

So how did the jackpot get so massive, anyway? Several losses. In fact, it took three months with no wins from August to November to reach that $2.04 billion amount. As the jackpot grew, more people played the lottery— as it only became more mammoth.

Of the $2.04 billion, the winner’s prize equals $1.9 billion. Since Castro chose to take a lump sum instead of divided payments, he actually received $997.6 million. While it doesn’t have a “b” in it, we’ll gladly take that amount any day of the week! As they say, “Más vale pájaro en mano que cien volando.” Señora vibes and we love it.

Lottery officials explained they do not reveal the winners’ “ages, ethnicity or any other identifying information,” but “also like to humanize the lottery” by revealing names. While winning the lottery seems more far-fetched than our family arriving to a party early (and that’s saying something!), if it happened to Castro, it seems almost 0.01% more possible. We can dream!

Meanwhile, the owner of the establishment that sold the ticket just got $1 million of the earnings, too. Joe’s Service Center’s owner Joseph Chahayed told Fox 11 he plans on sharing the win with his family. He said, “I will share it with the family … with my kids, my grandchildren… I have 11 grandchildren, and I have to share with them.”

Chahayed’s son told the outlet, “There’s no one else who deserves it more than this man… He’s worked hard his whole life. He deserves every bit of it.”

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