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Boeing employee bought lottery ticket because it was at $747M, a nod to the aircraft
The woman has worked as a supply chain analyst for Boeing for nearly 36 years. It was because of this that she decided to even buy a lottery ticket.
AUBURN, Wash. - An Auburn resident and Boeing employee has been identified as the winner of the record-breaking Powerball jackpot that was drawn on Feb. 6.
The woman has worked as a supply chain analyst for Boeing for nearly 36 years. It was because of this that she decided to even buy a lottery ticket.
She was in the Auburn Fred Meyer with her daughter on Feb. 5 to get groceries when she saw a sign on the Lottery vending machine showing the estimated jackpot at $747 million. She also realized that Boeing had just that week delivered its last 747 jumbo jet.
"That’s when it hit me…I had to buy one more ticket," she said.
The woman ended up claiming a $754.6 million jackpot. This was the ninth-largest Powerball won in U.S. history.
She claimed her "big check" and had a celebratory cake, with a nod to the 747 reference.
The Fred Meyer store that sold the $754 million winning jackpot ticket announced that it would be giving their $50,000 bonus to the Auburn Food Bank. The donation will provide about 66,000 meals to the community, according to a press release.
Kroger, who owns Fred Meyer, also gave $10,000 to the store to throw their own celebration with their employees.
The win drawn on Feb. 6 was the first Powerball jackpot win since Nov. 19. That winless streak allowed the prize to grow larger and larger until it stood as the ninth-largest in U.S. history.
This is the second time the winning Powerball ticket was won in Washington, which was also purchased in Auburn back in 2014. A $1 million Powerball ticket was purchased near Spokane in Nov. 2022, but has not been claimed yet.