Reading stories like this makes me want to tear up my winning ticket for tonights $150 million lottery for Mega-Millions. http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2004-02-12-lottery-winner_x.htm One wild ride for jackpot winner By Gregg Zoroya, USA TODAY WINFIELD, W.Va. — The gossip about Jack Whittaker, America's richest lottery winner, is as juicy as the meatloaf at Jan's Restaurant across from the courthouse here. Whittaker, 56, of nearby Scott Depot, won the biggest single lottery payoff in the USA on Christmas Day 2002 — $314.9 million. He accepted the money wearing a black cowboy hat and a big smile, and he pledged to give 10% of it to three preachers. Since then, Whittaker has been pulled between Christian charity and trouble. He is building two churches, feeding and clothing poor children and building senior citizen housing. He also has been charged with assault and drunken driving. And he has had a total of more than $600,000 in cash taken from his car, once while he was in a strip club giving "generous tips" to young women, a court file says. "If you sit on his lap, he'll give you how much? $10,000?" jokes Leota Young, 71, as her two lunch mates at Jan's laugh. "That's all right," Parthenia King, 64, says later during lunch. "When it comes down to the Judgment Day, he won't buy himself out of that, will he?" 'Can tell everyone to kiss off' Winning the lottery is a dream for many Americans. But the tale of contractor Andrew "Jack" Whittaker Jr., who was already a millionaire before he won the lottery, has some wondering whether a winner rules his money or the money rules him. "He just reminds me of a kid in a candy store," says Gerald Abreu, former minister of the Tabernacle of Praise Church of God in nearby Hurricane, where Whittaker sometimes attends services. "He's taking everything and anything because he can afford it." Through his lawyer, Whittaker declined to comment for this article. But he has said that the shock of winning, coupled with tens of thousands of people pleading for money, have taken a toll on his wife, Jewel, their grown daughter, Ginger McMahan, and their granddaughter, Brandi Bragg. "She's the most bitter 16-year-old I know," he told the Associated Press in December. Whittaker told a TV station last month after he was charged with drunken driving, "It doesn't bother me because I can tell everyone to kiss off." The reality, some of his friends say, is a little different. "I think Jack believes in God and trusts in God. I just think that some of these things have overwhelmed him, and I think he's struggling right now," says Michael Osborne, who works for Whittaker at Diversified Enterprises Construction as a project manager. "The more you have, the more difficult it is to resist temptation," Osborne says. Whittaker lives in Putnam County, population 56,000, a fast-growing bedroom community 12 miles west of Charleston. His post-lottery troubles began in the wee hours of Aug. 5, 2003, in Cross Lanes, 9 miles from here. Whittaker had $545,000 in cash and cashier's checks stolen from his Lincoln Navigator while he was inside the Pink Pony strip club. Two employees of the club were later arrested and accused of trying to drug Whittaker's cocktail and take his cash. The money was recovered, and the case is pending in court. On Jan. 4, Whittaker was thrown out of Billy Sunday's Bar and Grill, near St. Albans. Witnesses and a video indicate that Whittaker took a swing at the manager and then threatened to kill him and his family, according to court records. Whittaker was charged with misdemeanor assault and could face up to six months in jail and a $100 fine if convicted. On Jan. 17, someone broke into Whittaker's Navigator and grabbed a bank bag containing $100,000. Police are still investigating. Eight days later, West Virginia state police arrested Whittaker on charges of drunken driving. Officers said they found him asleep in his Cadillac Escalade with the engine running as it was parked along Interstate 64. Whittaker said he pulled off the road because of snowy weather. Released on $150 bond, he could face up to six months in jail and a $500 fine if convicted. The Powerball jackpot arrived on Christmas Day, 2002, thanks to a $1 ticket bought at the C&L Super Serve outside Hurricane, 5 miles from Whittaker's home. He stopped there every morning for biscuits stuffed with bacon and tomatoes served by the deli manager, Brenda Higginbotham. Whittaker went to bed that night thinking his lottery numbers did not match. But the next morning, when he heard the winning ticket came from the store where he bought his ticket, he checked again. He was a winner. Instead of taking the $314.9 million jackpot as an annuity, Whittaker opted for a single payment of $170 million. After taxes, he got $113.9 million. Whittaker established a foundation to help the poor — in addition to his tithe to the church. And he began to spread the wealth. He's been generous Higginbotham at the Super Serve got a Jeep Grand Cherokee and a house. Another car and a house went to the woman who sold him the winning ticket. He gave a $334,000 gift to his former pastor, Abreu, now a minister in Torrance, Calif., and $100,000 for a church-oriented foundation in Torrance. The Tabernacle of Praise Church in Hurricane, where Whittaker is called "Brother Jack," received $1.5 million in cash. That little red brick church is already being replaced with a 29,000-square-foot building. Construction should be finished early next year. The new church will seat more than 300 people — attendance on the first Sunday of the month was 53 — and will cost Whittaker more than $4 million. Says the Rev. C.T. Mathews, pastor of the church, "I think sometimes you kind of pinch yourself to see if you're awake." In Summers County, where Whittaker was born in Jumping Branch, he is building a $2 million Church of God in the county seat of Hinton. Last Christmas, Whittaker spent $100,000 on clothing vouchers for poor children in Putnam and Summers counties. In January, his foundation, along with Feed the Children, Wal-Mart and county officials, began providing $64,000 each month in food and clothing for poor children in the two counties. Two other counties will receive the same assistance until the foundation has helped all 55 counties in West Virginia. A senior citizens home is being built here in Winfield. Whittaker has given money for student scholarships and athletic programs in Summers County. And he bought and renovated a stock car raceway near Summers County to boost local tourism. "People are embarrassed from some of his exploits," says Cris Meadows, Hinton's city manager. "But the good outweighs the bad with Jack in most people's minds."
ever seen statistics on suicide rate of lottery winners..it's a good deal higher than the rest of us.
This is something I wouldn't doubt. I have imagined myself winning the lottery before and thought about all the people that would come running with hands open. I mean first you have the family that comes, especially the ones that don't bother to call you until they need something. The you have your friends calling up, some you haven't seen in 10+ years. The you have strangers calling up pretending to be your long lost family and/or friends. Then you have all types of organizations calling up asking for donations. Then you have people that call up and pretend like they don't want any part of it but really they want a nice chunk. I mean, can you imagine being pulled in all these different directions and not knowing what to do?
not just that Lil Pun...but many quit their jobs and find lost purpose...they find that money ultimately doesn't make them happy, despite the fact they've been told their whole lives it will...so if this promised land isn't so full, then what will make me happy? what will fulfill me? my business partner and friend was never more depressed than when he took a company public, sold off his interest and woke up a millionaire. i don't say that to deter you from working hard or seeking to make more money...but just that money be kept in proper perspective.
Yeah that's completely understandable as well. I mean you get all this money and now your rich, you quit your job because hey you don't need to work anymore but now what? Money be kept in it proper perspective? I'd like you to elaborate on that point some more. I believe I understand what you're talking about but I'd just like to make sure. Thanks.
sure...just that it's not the end-all, be-all...that it is not the source of joy. note that many old married couples remember most fondly the days of their marriage where they struggled to make ends meet. there are much weightier things to seek than the dollar. life here is much too short, and you can not serve two masters. (yes, I just ripped of Jesus' intellectual property with that last one!)
There was a study done of lotto winners I remember reading in the paper a few years back. They were measuring winners' satisfaction with their lives as compared to before they won. I don't remember the exact numbers but I do remember that more than 60 percent of people considered themselves less happy after the won. Less than 20 percent were happier after they won the money. The other thing I remember is that something like 30 percent said they would've been better off if they hadn't won in the first place. You can say that money won't buy you happiness or you can just say... mo money, mo problems.
The first thing I would do after winning, BEFORE contacting the lottery commision, would get my phone number changed.
This thread has me laughing. The guy has upwards of 114 million in assets. Do you know what he could do with that kind of money? The problem is that these morons don't know what to do with all the money so they spend it on stupid stuff like churches. What would I do? The options are endless. 1. Invest all of it, never work a day in my life. 2. Purchase the Montreal Expos. 3. Purchase the Pittsburgh Penguins. 4. Purchase Leeds United football club. 5. Join an investment group and buy your choice of sports franchise. Or think smaller. 1. Brand new BMW M5, Ferrari, Lamborghini, whatever the hell you feel like. 2. House in Boston suburbs, apartment across the street from Fenway. House in Beverly Hills, house in Hollywood, house in Malibu, beach house on Malibu beach. House in Seattle. House in Aspen. House in Santa Fe. House in Houston, house in Austin, ranch somewhere in Texas. Farm in Lincoln, Nebraska. Apartment in Manhattan. House in Maine. House in Newport RI. House in Martha's Vineyard. House in Richmond. House in Miami, and Key West. House in Hawaii. Flat in London, house on Loch Loness in Scotland. House in Paris, manor in southern France. Flat in Germany. House in Italy. House in Spain. House in Switzerland. House in Sydney, beach house in Sydney. House in Japan. 3. Purchase Vivid Video, become a p*rn king. 4. Create a film production company. 5. Create a music label. 6. Become a terrible artist, buy your own work anonymously for exorbiant prices, become famous. 7. Have 50 girlfriends, invite them all to live in your various houses. 8. Found a university. 9. Found a religion. etc. etc. etc. Endless possibilities. If any of these jokers are miserable because of their wealth, they should let me have it instead. Family members calling and asking for money? Please. "Sorry, It's all in the hands of my financial manager. There's nothing I can do. His name is Trader Jorge and he will barf on you if you try to get any of it." Ah, why do morons always win the lottery. 7.
Boo freaking hoo. With that much money, you can easily disappear from the hanger-ons. Caribbean islands? Montana ranch? No...let's stay in the urban sprawls and flash our money to strippers...
How exactly DO you start a university? I've always wondered that? Is it hard? I'm pretty sure it would be expensive.
I know exactly what I would do...I would build a youth basketball complex, with at least 5 courts. Then I would start my own youth basketball league. All ages, girls and boys, 5-17 yrs. old. It'll be perfect. I could sleep late every day, stay busy every afternoon and evening, and still be doing something I love to do. And in these parts, it'll make a fortune.
I'd buy the Rockets and then come here and laugh at the stupid trade proposals. Seriously though, there's nothing wrong with money. It's the people that can't handle it that are the problem. Especially people that have never really had to "manage" money without having to worry about losing much. If I had over $300 million in the bank, I doubt I'd have too many problems. And I sure as hell doubt I'd kill myself over it. But as it is, I only have about $250 million in the bank... *sigh* that was a joke - no begging emails please - thanks.
