NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Lottery officials verified Friday that a warehouse supervisor from the small town of Munford, Tenn., bought one of three tickets winning the world-record $1.6 billion Powerball jackpot.
John Robinson of Munford, a town of 6,000 north of Memphis, said he quickly reached out to his brother and others to assemble a team of lawyers and financial planners. They decided to take his winnings in a single lump sum of nearly $328 million, rather than let the Lottery invest the prize and pay him 30 annual installments totaling an estimated $533 million.
Why pass up on a certain income totaling more than $200 million, he was asked?
"We're going to take the lump sum because we're not guaranteed tomorrow," Robinson said.
He said they have no plans to move from their small, one-story house, or splurge on big purchases. They'll pay off their daughter's student loans, and he and his wife, Lisa, plan to return to work Monday. He does information technology, and she works in a dermatologist's office.
"That's what we've done all our lives, is work," he said. "You just can't sit down and lay down and not do nothing anymore. How long are you going to last?"
Robinson said earlier Friday that they would help out certain friends, give to the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, and donate to their church.
"I'm a firm believer in tithing to my church," Robinson said in an appearance on NBC's Today show.
Their daughter Tiffany, who flew with them to New York and back, also wants a horse.
"My first thought was, I've always wanted a horse," she said. "I get a horse now. My dad always said, "When I win the lottery.'"