The winning ticket will have made more than one happy. The owner of the gas station in suburban Los Angeles where the winning Powerball lottery ticket, whose amount had broken a record of 2,040 million dollars, was bought, also received a handsome sum: one million dollars.
Joe Chahayed, 75, thus received a surprise visit, this Tuesday morning at 5:45 am sharp, from representatives of the lottery company who came to give him the check indicating the amount of his commission, reports the Los Angeles Times.
The gas station manager in Altadena, a small town on the border with Los Angeles, had no idea that he was entitled to any rewards after the victory was announced.
“Joseph Chahayed says he plans to share his $1 million bonus with his family, already making him the luckiest man in the world,” NBC reporter Dana Griffin also reported.
“I’m happy for California”
The septuagenarian also expressed his joy at having sold the winning ticket, hoping that the winner lives in the region and can reinvest his winnings there. He also expressed delight at another side effect of this ticket sale: $156.3 million of the loot, collected in taxes, will go directly to California schools. The contribution is the highest on record for a single drawing in California lottery history, according to company officials.
“I’m happy for California, I’m happy for Los Angeles,” Joe Chahayed shared. “I’m especially happy for Altadena. There are a lot of poor people here, they deserve it.”
His son Danny, with whom he has been in charge of this family service station for 20 years, explains that other large sums have already been earned at home but that many times they were limited to a few thousand dollars.
“I’m 75 years old, I’m still young”
Danny also confesses that he told his father to back off, but that Joe Chahayed wasn’t planning on slowing down.
“I’m 75 years old, I’m still young,” says the boss. “I’ll be there tomorrow at 6 o’clock. I like the job.”
Danny Chahayed says of his father that he is a “people person” who liked to meet people when he sold lottery tickets but also candy or gasoline. “He loves people. He loves interacting with them on a daily basis,” says the winner’s son.
However, Joe Chahayed could not know the winner because it has not been declared yet. If he does claim his prize, he will receive just under half of the $2.04 billion up for grabs, after taxes.
Source: BFM TV
