The lucky Maryland lottery winners of a record Mega Millions jackpot came forward on Monday to claim their cut of the $656 million prize.
The winners, who chose to remain anonymous, were two public school teachers and an administrative employee, USA Today reported.
The trio — a man in his 40s, a woman in her 20s and a woman in her 50s — have called themselves “The Three Amigos”. They said they plan to keep working despite their massive windfall.
They have been photographed with their faces covered by a large cheque for $218.6 million, which represents their portion of the $656 million jackpot. Their hands and arms were also covered by gloves and long sleeves.
“They were modest and humbled,” Maryland Lottery Director Stephen Martino said of the winners on Tuesday. “These are precisely the people you would want to see win the lottery.”
Winning tickets from the draw were also sold in Kansas and Illinois. The Kansas ticketholder chose to keep their identity secret, even though most US states don’t allow that.
In Illinois, the winner is yet to come forward to claim their prize. Illinois Lottery Superintendent Michael Jones said identifying winners ensures the lottery is transparent and shows winners are chosen randomly.
Andrew Stoltmann, an attorney who has worked with lottery winners, says staying anonymous is the wise thing to do if you find yourself a multi-millionaire overnight.
Those who don’t stay anonymous, he warns, “have to change your phone number, maybe even get a new address, and get your team in place and prepare for an all-out avalanche of long-lost relatives, quote-unquote friends, charities and others beating down the door.”
A news conference “is the worst thing people can do,” Stoltmann added. “It’s one thing to have your name released, it’s another to have a press conference and have people see your face and hear you speak and know exactly what you look like.”
But even without a press conference, he said “it’s almost impossible to be anonymous now once your name is out there, given Facebook, Twitter, online photos and your digital footprint.”