SALEM, Ore. — One of the winners of a historic $1.3 billion Powerball jackpot last month is an immigrant from Laos who has had cancer for eight years and underwent his final chemotherapy treatment last week.
Cheng “Charlie” Saephan of Portland told an Oregon Lottery news conference that he and his wife Duanpen would split the prize equally with a friend who put in $100 to buy a batch of lottery tickets from them, Laiza Chao. They will receive a lump sum, $422 million after taxes.
“I will be able to take care of my family and my health,” he said, adding that he would “find myself a good doctor.”
He said that as a cancer patient he wondered, “How am I going to have time to spend all this money?” How long will I live?”
After purchasing the shared tickets, Chao sent a photo of the tickets to Saephan and said, “We are billionaires.” It was a joke before the actual drawing, he said, but the next day it became reality.
The winning Powerball ticket was sold at a Plaid Pantry supermarket in Portland in early April, ending a winless streak that had lasted more than three months. The Oregon Lottery said it had to go through a security and vetting process before disclosing the identity of the person who came forward to claim the prize.
Under Oregon law, lottery players cannot remain anonymous, with some exceptions. The winners have one year to claim the grand prize.
The jackpot has a cash value of $621 million before taxes if the winner chooses to take a lump sum instead of an annuity paid over 30 years, with an immediate payout followed by 29 annual installments. Price is subject to federal and Oregon state taxes.
The $1.3 billion prize is the fourth largest Powerball jackpot in history and the eighth largest among U.S. jackpot games, according to the Oregon Lottery.
The largest US lottery jackpot won in California in 2022 was $2.04 billion.