9. A Real-Life Santa
Texas resident Billie Bob Harrell Jr. took home $31 million in lotto winnings back in 1997. He immediately quit his job, went on vacation to Hawaii, paid off his bills, and bought all sorts of luxury goods for himself.
Harrell bought houses and cars for all of his family members and even donated as many as 500 turkeys to feed the poor during the holidays. During an interview with People magazine, his mom said that he "played Santa Claus" that year.
But it turned out that some people wanted to take advantage of his giving spirit—at some point, random strangers started hounding Harrell for freebies, and he ended up having to change his phone number several times for privacy reasons.
Adding to the stress was the fact that his wife split up with him less than two years after he had won the money. Her departure proved to be too much for Harrell to handle as he ended up taking his own life not too long afterward.
10. Something Borrowed
Suzanne Mullins from Virginia took home $4.2 million in lotto winnings back in 1993. She initially asked to be paid out in annual installments, but when her son suddenly got sick, she realized she needed more money upfront.
She ended up getting a $200,000 loan from a special foundation that assists lottery winners, but she had to offer up her prize money as collateral. After paying off her son's medical bills, she took out the rest of her money as a lump sum and quickly spent it all.
By 2004, she still owed the foundation $150,000, and when she couldn't afford to pay it off, they sued her for the damages.
11. Sharing Is Caring
For 25 years, Thomas and Denise Rossi were happily married. They shared all of their possessions, down to their electric toothbrush. However, the moment Denise won the lotto, everything changed.
She took home $1.3 million from the California Lottery in 1996, but she never told her husband about it. Instead, she swiftly filed for divorce without giving him a single reason why.
She later revealed that she had actually been very unhappy with her marriage for years and that she only realized she could finally leave once she won the prize money. Her devious would have worked out, but the family court judge had other plans.
He ruled that keeping her lotto win a secret violated asset disclosure laws in their divorce case. He awarded all of the $1.3 million to Thomas instead, leaving Denise completely empty-handed.
12. Losing It All
David Edwards, an ex-convict, was 46 years old and unemployed when he lucked out on a $280 million Powerball jackpot. After taking a lump sum of $41 million (which was $27 million after taxes), Edwards immediately moved out of his parents' house and splurged on the good stuff.
He bought cars, houses, collectible swords—everything under the sun. In fact, he went so overboard that in the first year alone, he had spent over $12 million of his earnings.
At some point, Edwards and his wife got wound up in substance use and developed nasty addictions. They eventually lost all of the prize money fueling that lifestyle and ended up dying in a hospice.
13. When Lightning Strikes
It's rare enough to see someone win the lotto once, but twice? That's how lucky Evelyn Basehore was. The New Jersey convenience store clerk first won $2.9 million from a Pick-6 lotto game in 1985, then won again a few years later, taking home an additional $1.4 million.
She got a little too comfortable with her winnings and started buying all sorts of gifts for her family and friends. She also developed a bit of gambling addiction and frequented casinos in Atlantic City whenever she could.
Basehore's constant spending eventually resulted in her losing all her money. By 2012, she was living in a trailer park and worked two jobs just to get by.
