The winner has two payout options: a lump sum worth $679.8 million or an annuity valued at $1.55 billion.
Last week, the lump sum actually dropped by $29.7 million between Wednesday and Friday even as the headline prize held steady at an estimated $1.4 billion, according to Powerball.
Powerball's estimated lump sum considers projected ticket sales and an "annuity factor," or the cost to fund the grand prize, Toyne said.
Typically, the higher interest rates climb, the bigger jackpot players can expect because "rising interest rates are a tailwind for a lottery annuity," he said.
But last week, the estimated lump sum dropped from Wednesday to Friday because the weekly annuity factor changed and the amount necessary to fund the jackpot went down, Toyne said.
Persons:
Justin Sullivan, J, Bret Toyne, Toyne, Akshay Khanna
Organizations:
State Lottery Association