Payam Javan: A lottery ticket purchased at a QuikTrip gas station in north St. Louis County, Missouri, has made one lucky player an instant multimillionaire. The ticket, announced by lottery officials on Monday, was one of two that split a record-setting $1.787 billion Powerball jackpot. The winning numbers — 11, 23, 44, 61, 62 and Powerball 17 — ended a streak of 41 consecutive drawings without a jackpot winner.

The Missouri winner and another ticket holder in Fredericksburg, Texas, will each claim an annuitized prize of $893.5 million or a lump-sum payout of $410.3 million before taxes. The staggering award marks the second-largest jackpot in U.S. history and eclipses Missouri’s previous record of $293.7 million, won in 2012. The announcement has sparked excitement across both states as officials confirm the winners have yet to come forward.

Neither of the winners has been identified publicly, and anonymity laws passed in Missouri and Texas allow them to remain confidential indefinitely. Legislators in both states introduced these protections to shield winners from fraud, harassment, and solicitation. In Texas, the law applies to prizes over $1 million, while Missouri extended the option to all jackpot winners beginning in 2021.