Alright, buckle up for some real talk about luck, aging, and the absurdity of fate. So, here’s the deal: a 79-year-old guy named Abbas Shafii from Beaverton just turned his mundane Tuesday into a legend’s tale by snagging the first Powerball jackpot of 2025 – a mind-boggling $328.5 million prize. Yep, you read that right. This isn’t your average “get-rich-quick” story; it’s more like “life decided to toss a billion-dollar punch at me” kind of moment.
Abbas, who apparently wasn’t planning on a midlife crisis (or maybe he was, who knows?), bought his ticket just a day before the draw at a Fred Meyer store on Southwest Walker Road. The winning numbers? 14, 31, 35, 64, 69, plus the elusive red 23. And while the media was all over him like seagulls on a dropped chip, Abbas preferred to keep it low-key. In a brief statement, he admitted he’s stoked to have won, and he’s not planning to hoard this windfall. Instead, he’s set on traveling, investing, and, wait for it—sharing his fortune with nonprofits that matter to him. Now, isn’t that a refreshing dose of humility in a world obsessed with wealth?
Choosing to take a one-time lump sum of $146.4 million instead of spreading the love (and money) over 29 years might sound like a bold move. And it is—because after Uncle Sam and friends take their cuts, he’s looking at about $77.78 million in his bank account. Not a bad trade for a lottery ticket bought at a Fred Meyer, right?
Oh, and here’s a fun twist: the store that sold him the winning ticket got a $100,000 bonus from the Lottery, and they’re even donating half of that to the Oregon Food Bank as part of their “Zero Hunger | Zero Waste” gig. It’s like the universe decided that luck should be a team sport.
In the meantime, if you’re still clinging to your $2 ticket, remember: around a third of every Powerball ticket sale goes back into community programs—supporting everything from education to state parks. And if you’re curious about the next shot at this kind of insanity, the upcoming jackpot for Saturday’s drawing is already estimated at $215 million.
Life’s weird, unpredictable, and often downright absurd—but sometimes, it just makes you a millionaire. Enjoy the ride, folks.