After over 20 drawings without a winner, Tuesday night’s Mega Millions jackpot drawing yielded two winners, who will split the winnings. The winning tickets for the $636 million jackpot were sold in Georgia and California.
There were no winners on Friday, causing the jackpot to grow to $550 million. The jackpot continued to grow, reaching $636 million just before the drawing. The winning numbers were 8, 14, 17, 20, 37 and Mega Millions ball 7.
California Lottery spokesman Alex Traverso confirmed to the Los Angeles Times that the California winner purchased the ticket at Jenny's Gift Shop in San Jose. The Georgia winner bought the ticket in Atlanta.
Although $636 million sounds incredible, it was just shy of the record $656 million jackpot from March 2012. Still, Paula Otto, the Virginia Lottery executive director and director for the Mega Millions game, was happy with the results.
“It was a great run,” Otto said. “We have two jackpot winners, but the important programs supported by the 45 Mega Millions lotteries are the real winners. During this 22-drawing run, the lotteries generated more than $300 million in profits for those programs.”
According to CNN, 20 other ticket buyers won $1 million, since they matched all the numbers but the Mega Millions ball.
image: Mega Millions