By Jason Buckland, May 2, 2010
Seven stories of lotto winners who went on to use their newfound wealth wisely.
They say a big lottery win is actually a curse. And such has surely been the case for countless jackpot recipients: A Pennsylvania man who cashed in $16.2 million now lives on food stamps; a fella in Michigan squandered $3.1 million in only two years on a divorce and crack cocaine; a 2002 Powerball winner, despite his $315 million payout, fell into gambling and alcohol addictions and was blamed for his granddaughter's drug overdose death two years later.
Yet, while jackpot wins can bring hard times — about one in three lotto winners are "in serious financial trouble or ... bankrupt within five years," according to the Consumerist — they can't all be bad. Fact is, often a fat lottery payout can be used for good ... we just never hear about it.
MSN presents seven stories of lotto success where the winners were able to turn their newfound fortunes into much more.
Joe Johnson, author of 'The Secret Millionaire' with his wife, Lisa.
Let love show you the way
It's like a bad Hugh Grant movie, this story. Having been spurned before by women taking advantage of his wealth, a U.K. man went to great lengths to hide it when he began dating a new woman in 2000. That year, Joe Johnson wore ratty clothes, drove a heap of a car and gave his new flame, Lisa, a cheap, unremarkable ring for Christmas in a bid to test her love for him. Only when the two were engaged months later and Joe was satisfied with Lisa's intentions — "I could see [he] didn't have a lot of money," Lisa told the Daily Mail, "so for him to spend what little he had on such a thoughtful gift was lovely. It meant the world to me - it still does." — did the love-struck Joe divulge his secret to his new fiancée. Johnson was hiding a $16.2 million lottery fortune he had won in 1998 that he had turned into a booming investment portfolio and a string of luxury properties. "It was the only way I could ever tell that I was truly loved for who I was, not because of the money," Joe would later say of his elaborate ruse.
courtesy LotteryPost.com
Giving back the right way
Most every jackpot winner seems to go through the motions after their win. They give money to family, donate some to charity and announce their desire to become a better person. But at some point after collecting their grand prize, few people actually stick with the organizations they supported at the outset of their new well-off lives. Les Robins, , a junior high school teacher who cashed in on a then record $111 million Powerball jackpot in 1993, is an exception to this rule. Robins founded Camp Winnegator, a day camp in Wisconsin that hosts local kids on the 226 acres the newfound millionaire bought with his winnings. According to one media report, Robins — who also works as a volunteer basketball coach — can still be seen patrolling the campgrounds in his decades-old Jeep, keeping an eye on the kids and counsellors who enjoy the benefits of his philanthropy.
Brad Duke
Break down your investment strategy
Too often unsuspecting lotto winners waste their fortunes through poor investing and hapless money management. So one way to keep this from happening is to break things down — as in, meticulously break things down. In 2005, Brad Duke, a 34-year-old Idaho gym owner, struck a $225 million Powerball jackpot. After taking a lump sum payout of around $85 million, Duke hired a team of financial advisors to help him reach one lofty goal: become a billionaire. The lotto winner developed a simple, yet ambitious strategy to reach his target but, perhaps more importantly, he stayed smart with his nest egg. According to Fortune magazine, Duke put $45 million of his winnings into safe, low-risk investments and bonds, $35 million into more aggressive investments such as oil and real estate and paid off the $125,000 mortgage for his modest Idaho home. He also laid out a plan to give each of his family members around $12,000 annually, the highest possible bequest without a state tax consequence. "I [was] looking at statistics where [lottery winners] in ten years have nothing," Duke said. "In ten years, I wanted to be worth about ten times as much."
Angela Williams with her partner, Jason.
Don’t let your winnings leave you with a hangover
Most lotto winners on this list have cashed in Powerball-type victories, winning them tens of millions and seemingly limitless possibilities. But a New Zealand woman, who at the age of 18 collected a modest (by comparison) 1988 jackpot of just $250,000, has been able to turn her mini-payout into a vast fortune with a string of solid investments. Along with her partner, Jason, smart market plays now allow Angela Williams to boast an estate with eight houses and a 10-acre block of land in rural New Zealand. The pair has recently invested big money into Hydrodol, a popular hangover pill that suppresses the effects of a night out drinking. Williams has said business is strong but she expects a big boom next year, of course, when the 2011 Rugby World Cup is played in her native country.
What’s an Irish man to do with a newfound fortune?
Fourteen years is certainly enough time for someone to blow $15.6 million (see: Motors, General and Hammer, M.C.), but for one Irish lotto winner it was enough time to establish himself as a legitimate entrepreneur. Former bus driver Peter Lavery scored his £10.2 million (about $21.8 million) jackpot in 1996 and quickly set up a trust in memory of his deceased parents and raised money for local charities and hospitals. But Lavery has always had a taste for business, and despite some ventures which failed — his three-story Belfast theme bar opened to a blaze of publicity in Ireland before being shuttered shortly after its debut — he would find his calling. Lavery partnered with Danny Boy Premium Blend whiskey last year in the hopes of building the brand. Currently, the whiskey is served across Europe and in many North American bars.
Courtesy Nebraska Lottery: Michael Terpstra (on right)
Lotto winners often promise that their lives won't change due to their sudden wealth. Jack Whittaker, whose tragic tale was mentioned in this feature's intro, said just this in 2002 after he pocketed a record $315 million Powerball jackpot. Considering what he would soon lose — millions to divorce and addiction and his 17-year-old granddaughter (who overdosed on drugs) — his comments at his prize acceptance press conference are quite depressing looking back: "I've been blessed my whole life," he said as he accepted his cheque eight years ago. "If I can help it, nothing is going to change. I'm content." Yet, while Whittaker has become the poster boy for troubled lotto winners, his initial dream of maintaining a simple life has served others well. Mike Terpstra, a Nebraska man, vowed the same thing Whittaker did after splitting a $365 million jackpot with seven co-workers in 2006. Difference was, Terpstra — who settled for a lump sum payment of $15.5 million — was able to pull it off. One year after winning the grand prize, the former sanitation supervisor was quoted in the Omaha World-Herald as boasting, "I'm still me," after revealing that his most extravagant purchase since the win was an unassuming $470,000 home in southeast Lincoln, Neb.
Realize your Subway dream
Realizing a dream is supposed to be a satisfying experience — think an Olympic medalist collapsing across the finish line after a gruelling race. For lottery winners, though, untold millions can allow you to reach any goal you've desired and still leave you feeling flat. But one Chicago man was able to avoid such a fate earlier this year when his lotto win enabled him to fulfill a lifelong dream that also happened to involve a sound investment. According to the Eight Forty-Eight show on Chicago Public Radio, newfound millionaire Yancy Hicks took the $1 million he won in 2008 and bought a Subway franchise, which he said has long been his "dream to own." After working at a McDonald's for 26 years, Hicks says he only splurged on a new red Corvette after his jackpot win and kept most of his cash for a play in the fast food industry he'd learned well. Not much else, for better or worse, has changed for the former hamburger flipper. "[Life's] a little different being a millionaire," he said, noting he still hangs with all the same crew. "If they're friends in the beginning, they're your friends in the end."
SOURCE
