Mega Millions Jackpot Inches Toward $500 Million With No Named Winners Since September

The Mega Millions jackpot rose to nearly half a billion dollars on Wednesday after no winner was named during Tuesday night's drawing.

The $490 million jackpot now becomes Mega Millions' eighth-largest prize, and will be up for winning during Friday night's drawing, according to NBC News.

On Tuesday, there were four tickets that matched five white balls and subsequently won the game's second-place prize of at least $1 million, lottery officials told the outlet.

However, no one has matched all six numbers since Sept. 15, despite more than 19.2 million winning tickets being sold at all prize levels — 27 of which were worth at least $1 million, according to NBC News.

To date, the largest jackpot in U.S. history was worth $1.5 billion and was won by a South Carolina resident in 2019, the outlet reported.

The winner came forward nearly five months after the drawing but opted to remain anonymous and take a one-time Mega Millions payment of $877,784,124 before taxes, according to NBC News.

Per the Mega Millions website, people can choose between two options if they have a winning ticket.

The first choice is taking the grand prize in an annuity option, which is awarded to winners in "one immediate payment followed by 29 annual payments," each which are 5% bigger than the last.

The other choice is a cash option, which awards winners with a one-time, lump-sum payment equivalent to all the cash in the jackpot pool, the website states.

Though most winners choose the cash option, approximately half of their earnings go toward tax, NBC News reported.

Those interested in playing Friday's drawing, which is set to take place at 11 p.m. ET, can learn more information here.

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