JUST IN: Lucky punter wins $1.5 billion jackpot

A very lucky and very rich Mega Millions ticket owner has won the record $1.537 billion jackpot – and we may never know the winner’s identity.

Mega Millions officials say a ticket purchased in South Carolina matches all six numbers in Tuesday night’s drawing. The massive jackpot fell just short of the nation’s biggest prize, a $1.586 Powerball windfall that drew three winning tickets in 2016. The Mega Millions prize is the largest on only one ticket.

Officials had forecast a U.S. record $1.6 billion prize, but ticket sales came in slightly below expectations. Still, the final total did set the Mega Millions record.

“The moment we’ve been waiting for finally arrived, and we couldn’t be more excited,” said Gordon Medenica, director of the Mega Millions Group and head of Maryland Lottery and Gaming. “This is truly a historic occasion.”

South Carolina, however, is one of several states that does not require lottery winners to publicly reveal their identities. The winner or winners can quietly claim the annuity, or more likely the cash option of $877.8 million, and disappear.