The unenviable fate of people who hit the lottery jackpot

Life confirms that not in all cases, fallen on his head jackpot brings happiness, or at least change the fate for the better. Let us tell you about some of the most famous winnings, which turned out to be nothing but trouble for the winners.

Vivian Nicholson’s story

She won $30,000,000 in 1961. When reporters asked her what she would do with the money, she said: “I’m going to spend it. Spend it lots and lots of it. And she kept her word. She spent her winnings to buy luxury clothes, cars, jewellery… However, even such a spender, it took five years for her millions to disappear.

She was widowed, had five husbands, nearly died of a stroke, became addicted to alcohol, was cured of alcoholism, attempted suicide twice, and even spent time in a mental hospital. Today she is a lonely pensioner, receiving a small pension of $300.

William Post’s story

Today, this man also receives a state allowance, although the lottery gods once gave him over $16 million. His misfortunes began when his wife sued him to get her share of the prize. Post also quarrelled with the rest of his relatives, then went into the car and restaurant business. The whole chain of events led William to bankruptcy.

Ken Proxmire’s story

An ordinary locksmith from Michigan became the owner of a million dollars after winning the lottery. In California, Ken and his brothers decided to try their luck in the car business. After five years, bankruptcy awaited them.
His son Rick said, “Daddy was just a poor guy who had hit the jackpot one day and decided to help us all out. For a few years everything seemed to go fine, those were the fun days, but today our life is very ordinary. Nobody makes plans to buy a helicopter or a limousine anymore. My father had to go back to being a locksmith.

Willy Hurt’s story

Our next hero also lived in American Michigan. In 1989, his lottery winnings amounted to $3100000. After two years, he too was in ruin, compounded by a murder charge. According to his lawyer, Willie spent all the money on divorce proceedings and drugs.

Janit Leigh’s story

In 1993, a woman snapped up an eighteen million dollar jackpot. Janit had a big heart, and donated wholeheartedly to social and educational programmes – in short, to help the community. After eight years, she had to go through bankruptcy proceedings. She had no cash left at all, and only seven hundred dollars in her bank account.

The story of the Mukhametzyanov family

These spouses from Ufa are still the most discussed and famous lottery millionaires in Russia today. No surprise there. In 2001 this not the most well-to-do drinking family has won in “Bingo-show” exactly one million dollars. Translated into our wooden money, this amounted to 29814000 roubles. Nadezhda Mukhametzyanova used to work as a dryer at a machine-building association in Ufa, but she had been staying at home for several years. Her husband and two children lived with her. Neighbours said the couple often drank.

When the couple received their winnings, their flat became a magnet for drunks and newly minted relatives. The lucky couple never turned anyone away, alcohol poured in torrents. Their two teenage sons, Alexei and Rustem, were infrequent visitors to the school, but they enjoyed spending their mum’s winnings. They took a crowd of fellow students to the stalls and slot machines.

Somehow the ‘slumdog millionaires’ started thinking about investments after all and bought a couple of flats in the upmarket part of their hometown. They lost one of them almost immediately because of a fire. The Mukhametzyanovs also took two cars, but quickly had them wrecked. Five years later, which had passed since the jackpot hit, Nadezhda died. At that time, she was even poorer than before the ill-fated winnings.