The winner of Wednesday’s huge $758.7 million Powerball jackpot is off to a good start in handling her financial windfall, according to Shark Tank star Kevin O'Leary.
Mavis Wanczyk, 53, a medical worker from Massachusetts, won the second largest prize in Powerball history. With so many lottery winners making poor choices after winning, O'Leary noted that Wanczyk did one thing right: taking a lump sum payment for her winnings.
“Get the cash up front,” O'Leary told ABC. “Why? Because states in many cases are technically bankrupt.”
O'Leary also agreed with Wanczyk when she said that her plan was to “sit back and relax.” Many lottery winners tend to spend large sums of money on frivolous things, going broke shortly after winning.
Mavis Wanczyk of Chicopee, Mass., the winner of the $758.7 million Powerball jackpot in Braintree, Mass., in this Aug. 24, 2017, handout photo. Massachusetts State Lottery/Handout via Reuters
