Record Powerball Winner Beset by Problems Since Winning CHARLESTON, W.Va. - A man beset by problems since winning a record lottery jackpot says he can't pay a settlement to a casino worker because thieves cleaned out his bank accounts. Powerball winner Jack Whittaker gave that explanation in a note last fall to a lawyer for Kitti French, who accused him of assaulting her at the Tri-State Racetrack and Gaming Center, a slots-only casino near Charleston, according to a motion French's lawyer filed this week demanding payment of the confidential settlement. Whittaker won a nearly $315 million on Christmas 2002, then the largest undivided lottery prize in U.S. history. He took his winnings in a lump sum of $113 million after taxes. Since then, he has faced his granddaughter's death by drug overdose; he has been sued for bouncing checks at Atlantic City, N.J., casinos; he has been ordered to undergo rehab after being arrested on drunken driving charges; his vehicles and business have been burglarized; and he has been sued by the father of an 18-year-old boy, a friend of his granddaughter's, who was found dead in Whittaker's house. In the latest lawsuit, Whittaker told French's lawyer, John Barrett, that "a team of crooks" cashed checks in September at 12 City National Bank branches and "got all my money," according to the motion Barrett filed Wednesday in state court. "I intend to pay but can't without any money," Whittaker wrote, according to the motion. An official with City National Bank said Friday the bank is investigating "small discrepancies" in Whittaker's accounts. Calls to Whittaker and his lawyers Friday were not immediately returned.
It doesn't get rid of stupidness that's for sure. They say that if you take all the money in the world and split evenly to everyone, within a few years the same people will be rich again and the same losers will be poor again. Guess it's true.
i read that suicide rates are extremely high among lottery winners. no link, but it wouldn't be surprising to me.
Can you win the lottery and choose to remain anonymous? Cause I wouldnt tell too many people if I could help it.
I think the may figure it out unless you kept your spending habits the same. But what fun would that be.
IIRC, most states have it where lottery winners names must be announced publicly. I feel the same way though, I wouldn't tell anybody or a very small amount of people.
I think the motivated self-starters will be rich again, but the people who were given their money (e.g. Paris Hilton) would have no idea how to really get the money back
Talk about being stupid. With 113 million in Cash just sitting in a money market account will net him over 5 million a year. He deserves everything that is coming to him for being such an idiot by wasting it all.
I had always wondered if you win or inherit so much cash, what is a good way to make it work for you (how can you make money off of it).
Tax Free Muni-bonds. You're going to be in the 38% tax bracket when you've got that kind of income. A 4% yield in a municipal bond fund at 113 million would give you 4.52 million per year tax free. A great money market account that yields 4.5% would net you 5.08 million, but you would only get 3.15 million after taxes.
“Money can't buy you happiness, but it can buy you a yacht big enough to pull up right alongside it.” ~ David Lee Roth
But it buys you cool cars: <object width="425" height="350"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/OGBAUmou4ac"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/OGBAUmou4ac" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350"></embed></object>
"They say money can't buy happiness? Look at the ****ing smile on my face. Ear to ear, baby." "Anybody who tells you money is the root of all evil doesn't have any." -Jim Young (Boiler Room)
Wow, one day I was watching tv and on the E channel they had this True Hollwyood Stories episode about the "lottery curse." It was about all of these lucky people who one millions and just screwed their lives up or pissed it all away. This guy was on there, I remember him from the part about his grandaughter who was a drug addict. She was getting high with a friend and he od'd and she just took off without even calling an ambulance.
