TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — Two ticketholders have won the jackpot prize from Friday night’s Mega Millions drawing, according to the Mega Millions website.
The two tickets were sold in California and Florida. Both matched all six winning numbers exactly: 9, 22, 26, 41, and 44, plus the gold Mega Ball 19.
The jackpot, estimated at $494 million, is the 11th largest in Mega Millions history. The two ticketholders will now share the prize, taking home $247.9 million each.
The winners of Friday’s jackpot are also the first two ticketholders in five years to share a Mega Millions grand prize, according to Mega Millions. The last time two jackpot-winning tickets were sold in the same drawing occurred on Oct. 13, 2017.
Friday’s $494 million jackpot, meanwhile, had been building since Aug. 2, after ticketholders in Illinois claimed the historic $1.334 billion jackpot from the previous drawing on July 29.
In addition to the jackpot-winning tickets, three other million-dollar tickets were sold in New Jersey, North Carolina and Texas. The Texas ticketholder paid extra to play the multiplier, making that particular ticket worth $2 million, according to Mega Millions.
The next drawing is scheduled for Tuesday, with a starting jackpot of $20 million.
