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Ross D. Franklin / AP
In this Nov. 29 photo, Karen Bach of the Arizona Lottery announces during a news conference in Phoenix that one of the winning tickets in the $579.9 million Powerball jackpot was purchased in Fountain Hills, Ariz.
Matthew Good is likely feeling even better these days.
The Phoenix-area man was identified Monday as the second winner of last week's record $587.5 million Powerball jackpot.
Arizona Lottery officials described Good as a married man in his 30s who moved to the Phoenix suburb of Fountain Hills last year from Pennsylvania. He took the one-time payout of $192 million this month from the Nov. 28 drawing, telling lottery officials he wanted to avoid paying potentially higher taxes in 2013 due to the "fiscal cliff."
Good bought $10 worth of tickets and kept the winner in the visor of his car overnight before realizing he was a multimillionaire, lottery officials said.
After Good and his wife learned of their good fortune, he pulled together a team of financial advisers. Good and his lawyer met with lottery officials and he opted to take the cash option now. He had 180 days to claim the jackpot.
His name was released in response to a public records request filed by media organizations. Good initially decided to remain anonymous.
He bought the winning ticket at a Fountain Hills convenience store.
Lottery officials said his wife owns half the prize because Arizona is a community property state.
Karen Bach, a lottery official, said Good is smart and wants to take time to make a solid financial plan and set up a charitable entity to aid causes that he and his wife support.
Lottery officials wouldn't say what Good does for a living but described him as a professional who has no immediate plans to quit his job.
A search of property records showed that Good paid $289,900 for his 2,500-square-foot Fountain Hills home in September 2011, The Associated Press reported. The real estate listing describes the house as having gorgeous mountain views, vaulted ceilings, a backyard with an outdoor kitchen and a three-car garage, according to AP.
Arizona Lottery officials announce a winning Powerball ticket has been claimed for the record-breaking $587.5 million jackpot. The jackpot is being split with previously announced winners in Missouri.
Good previously issued a statement that said: "It is difficult to express just how thankful we are for this wonderful gift. We are extremely grateful and feel fortunate to now have an increased ability to support our charities and causes. Obviously, this has been incredibly overwhelming and we have always cherished our privacy."
Second winning ticket for $587.5 million Powerball jackpot claimed in Arizona
Dave Kaup / Reuters
The Hill family holds an oversized check presented by the Missouri Lottery during a news conference in Dearborn, Missouri, Nov. 30, 2012.
A mechanic and his wife, Mark and Cindy Hill, of Dearborn, Mo., already have claimed their half of the multistate Powerball prize.
The jackpot was a record for Powerball and the second-largest lottery prize in U.S. history. It set off a nationwide buying frenzy. At one point, tickets were selling at nearly 130,000 a minute.
Powerball winners introduced to the nation: 'We're still stunned by what happened'
Before the Nov. 28 drawing, the jackpot had rolled over 16 consecutive times without any winners. In a Mega Millions drawing in March, three ticket buyers shared a $656 million jackpot, the largest lottery payout of all time.
Lottery officials said the Arizona couple moved from Pennsylvania a year ago. While in Pennsylvania, they regularly played the lottery but had done so only twice since moving to Arizona, Bach said.
After realizing he had won, Good and his wife spent the weekend trying to recover from the shock, Bach said.
One set of winners, from Missouri, has already come forward. But mystery still surrounds the person who bought the winning ticket in Arizona. NBC's Kerry Sanders reports.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
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I think he's a relative of mine.
lol lol nice!!!
The media is truly pathetic.
I agree, the media is pathetic. They feel that it is the public's right to know the details of this couple's location. Why not just publish the address while you're at it, so criminals can find him? He needs to quit his job, for his own safety (and his wife's). That kind of money is going to bring out all the greedy and dangerous people, and it will not be safe for them.
Sounds like he already has a pretty nice set-up in a beautiful location. I think that was what the media is trying to imply.
But, I agree -- it is unnecessary information.
Yeah, this guy will find relatives he never even imagined he had.
good luck to him.
I am happy for the couple but I wish the media had not published personal information either. Every cockroach in the country is going to be after them for a piece of the winnings. Why make it easy for them? Maybe the author of the story should publish their personal information as well?
finally...some Good news...now the bad...how many people with bad intent will be after them...and that's just in lawyers...lucky broke ass me...
Maybe invest in some good security. 'Meet my little friend'
wonder...what time he goes out on the front lawn to get the news paper...they need to publish this useful info...and do his dog bite...
I would have stayed anonymous for as long as humanly possible.
a bad lawyer...would have had it received in the form of a trust...the trust could have been named anything...the name of the trust would have been made public...but a Good lawyer...would want his client to be harassed for day's on end...
Co RavensFan - Read the story. He tried to stay anonymous. AZ law lets a person claim lottery prizes anonymously. The the scum media filed suit using the "public disclosure"/"we must know who it is" angle and he got outed.
I think if the law says you can claim a prize anonymously, the media shouldn't be able to find out who you are. And then to disclose so much more information about this man and his family is truly pathetic. I assume by now he has hired 24/7 security. He will need it.
Not to worry guys. Sheriff Joe lives in Fountain Hills too. If this guy's smart he'll buy a house next to Arpio, that way he can get free security from our sheriff's office.
@LoraRoberts - Do I pass on your post since it's obviously spam, or do I pause to comment on your tragic misunderstanding of English, spelling, and syntax?
Hardly. Joe will try to hit him up for a "donation". At any rate, if this guy is smart, and I think he is, he'll get out of Dodge (Fountain Hills) ASAP.
The wife gets half already? Never get married is the only way to go.
Bi Polar Wookie
I would bet the wife most likely gave him $ 20 for lunch money. He instead bought lottery tickets just for sXXts and grins.
Spoken like a true miserly cheapskate with a PhD. If I was a winner I would be glad to share it with my wife, and she would with me. Wouldn't you, honey? Honey?
Even half of it is more money than you'll see in your lifetime.
Good for him, wish it was me. But I tell you one thing...I'd quit my job so that it could go to someone who needs it.
EXACTLY! He can volunteer for one of the organizations he supports but no way should he keep a paying job with so many people out of work.
Well, since you don't know what he does, how do you know there is someone there waiting to fill the job? Where I work it's hard to find the right person with the right skills to fill positions. He might also be a lawyer or a professor or doctor or even a male nurse and the job means more than just a paycheck.
The guy wants to remain anonymous yet the media feels compelled to publish every possible detail they can dig up.
Leave the man alone!
yet you saw a few days ago he accepted the prize but said he wanted to remain anonymous, but you come clicking away to the MEDIA report about him being identified, then rail on the MEDIA for publishing every detail they can dig up, that you happily read! Leave the media alone! (or quit clicking on stories that upset your delicate nature)
Mary Beth, the winner essentially still is anonymous to FormerCARes, you, and me. Publishing extensive details about him takes away the anonymity from the man to a much wider audience within his community. That is the problem.
to heck with them...we needed the weekend to recover...what a load...that money they won was from us you fools...and it sounds like they were not that bad off to begin with...no one person needs almost 200 million...the lottery is set up like poo...this country going to hell in a hand-basket...enjoy the money Mr. Good...you didnt earn it...
So then what was that video going around a couple of days after the Lottery w/the black guy in the Northeast who was in the convenience store and said he had the other winning ticket. People there verified his numbers on camera, including the store clerk. Was it all an act ?
yes, very odd. what the heck was that? even the store clerk said he had the numbers! so, did he just buy a new ticket, with those numbers on it??? that'd be a good gag to pull on someone! after the lottery announces the numbers, run out and buy a ticket for the next drawing with the winning numbers and freak out at work, and show it to people, then laugh
The black guy in Maryland with the supposedly winning ticket was a fraud -- just like that doofus on Facebook who posted a photo with the "winning ticket" and said he would give $1M to some random person who 'liked' his photo. He got over a million 'likes' in 24 hours and made national news. But his ticket was so obviously a fake -- the first 5 numbers were not even in numerical order, like a real Powerball ticket has them.
The Facebook doofs (More than one...) Were publishing a Photoshopped image saying they were the winner. Yet, they were sloppy and those of us familiar with Photoshop (and read said media reports) busted the so called jokes. The latest one was a doofus in Tacoma that was saying he was the winner the same Day that Arizona stated the winner has come forward.
What's worse is the jackholes that believe everything posted on the net...
Sorry, but this reminds me of a bad joke. A man comes home after he won the lottery and says to his wife "I won the lottery, pack your clothes!" She responds "Oh great, winter clothes or summer clothes?". He says "All of them, get out!". Bad, I know.
tax his rich ***! lol. but glad to hear he's going to put his share to good use! :)
Mary Beth - If it helps calm your intense feeling of jealousy and envy towards this man, you'll be pleased to know that the feds will take 35% of his cash option and the state of AZ will get their fill too. Now there, does that make you feel all better and warm and fuzzy? No, I suppose it does not. You likely think the government should get even more. Pathetic you.
Arizona will tax him another 4% before he gets the cash.
-redacted-
The media going through his property records and giving the nation petty details of his house is exactly type of reason for which he had wished to remain anonymous. I certainly don't blame him. I could have easily have gone on living without a story reporting who he is. The shallowness of news reporting is truly astounding.
So what about the charleton from Jersy or wherever that dude claimed to be the winner? I think industrious reporting would include a piece to embarass that dolt.
What happened to the Maryland guy? I still don't understand how that was a hoax if the store employee verified the numbers. Weird.
On another note, I don't really like it when people with "three car garages" win. I prefer to hear about people who REALLY need money. Oh well, they are probably good people, and hopefully they will give back to the community.
so what does 3 car garages have to do with anything? I have a 3 car garage, and a 2 car garage and I make less than $40,000 a year.
That moron in Maryland was a fraud. Notice that the store employee only looked at the numbers, but when he offered to run the ticket through the machine, the guy who handed him the ticket said no and demanded his ticket back -- because he knew it was fake!
As for the real winner living in a $289,000 house with a 3-car garage in Fountain Hills (an upper middle class community), yes he & his wife have done well for themselves. Did you read the part about how he doesn't plan to quit his job, and he & his wife are setting up a charity so they can donate money to their favorite causes?
I'd say that's the ideal kind of lottery winner -- someone who wants to give back some of their good fortune -- as opposed to some idiot who will go on a huge spending spree and will end up on TV five years later, broke and miserable.
good for them!
you can't blame George W. Bush.
But we can blame you for even posting it.
Good for them! Welcome to the 1%! :)
They should make 20 millionaires and not the scam where very very few make anything on it ....The Lotto SUCKS with the states that rip off the little people.
The rules are setup before you buy a ticket. If you don't like the rules then go pound salt! They are not ripping me off because I don't buy.
You made my point....
I always play the lottery, if for nothing else than for some harmless fun. However, winning is a curse disguised in bling. I would have to quit my job, cut off relationships with my friends and family, and probably move to the same place all of the other winners go. Greed will always get the best of people, and would most likely place the winner(s) in more dangerous situations than they had bargained for. On the other hand, money can't buy happiness, but it sure can help.
hell I'm not greedy lol just need $10 to pay for med's lol
i wouldn't count on any of his relatives getting anything. I mean I was practically family to a Lotto winner, a fraternity brother of a brother whose brother won the Lotto and I never saw a penny.
Wow. Digging up the name of somebody who claimed his ticket so to be as anonymous as possible, then publishing his property records? I think this is probably one of the most unethical pieces of journalism I've seen in a long time.
Good for them! Now watch the entitlement leaches come forward thinking they are owed something because.... they once crossed paths and farted or made eye contact.
The MEDIA is SELFISH!!! He's trying to remain anonymous but the name was released because of media requests? Then they looked up details of the house he bought? WHy not just plaster his face all over with his name, a description of his car, the license plate and his address with a picture of his house and a map for any theives or kidnappers who might not be aware of google maps? GEEZ!
You people in the MEDIA really SUCK sometimes!!
I agree! He should've created an offshore acct in the Bahamas and had the prize claimed by a representative of the trust or Corp owning that acct...then let the media try to get that info! They are parasites!
The trust would still have to pay 35% federal and 4% state tax before the money was released.
There ought to be some rules that prohibit the lottery from disclosing the identity of the winners, regardless of prize size, if the winners chose to stay anonymous! The media usually only thinks of the story and selling advertising, with no regard for the consequences to the people whose names they made public - often against their wishes. Just because we have the right to know, it doesn't mean that we need to know everything!
It seems that the folks who won are good people and I wish them well.
Obviously, the man and his wife preferred to remain anonymous. Thanks to sensational " gossips" and "busy bodies" like NBC and the idiots requesting his identity, his wishes are not obliterated. Congratulations !
If it was me, I would donate my house to a needy family and move as far away as possible.
I just want to put in my 2 cents in support of the comments saying the media is pathetic for reporting the winner's name and location when he wanted to remain anonymous and then they go on to gather other information and report that as well. Privacy laws need to be updated to prevent media from invading the privacy of people who have not committed any sort of criminal activity.