The manager of a team of 20 miners from Kalgoorlie-Boulder initially thought they were ‘joking’ when they informed him of their $36 million lottery win.
In October 2022, the $110 million (AU $75 million) Powerball jackpot was divided among three winners – one of which was a group of 20 miners from Gold Fields, Australia.
According to ABC News, these 20 night-shift miners from Western Australia collectively won $36.44 million (AU $53 million).
Each member of the group received approximately $1.822 million (AU $2.6 million).
One of their first actions upon discovering their fortune was to call their manager, who unfortunately was not a part of their lottery group.
Unlucky.
When the miners informed their manager, Chris Wood, of their windfall, Woods initially ‘did not believe them’.
He told ABC that he responded to the employees by saying: “It’s impossible, I don’t believe you, you are joking.”
Despite his fears of potentially ‘los[ing] them’ as employees, he expressed that while he was ‘ecstatic’ and ‘very happy for each of them’, he jokingly mentioned he would ‘run after them and steal their ticket if they [didn’t] come back’ to work.
“They’re great workers,” he added. “It is my best shift. They are all from here.”
It remains unclear whether the employees chose to return to work or decided to leave their jobs due to their newfound wealth. However, a member from another group of workers, known as the Goldfields, shared their perspective on continuing work after winning a significant sum.
Kylie Owen, part of a group of 250 people who won a $43 million jackpot, described the experience as ‘amazing’ and ‘electric’.
Despite the win, which ‘changed the entire town’ and created a ‘buzz’, it did not lead to a major shift in work habits.
Kylie Owen, who owns a business, decided to ‘not change’ her routine and continued to ‘go to work every day’ even after the windfall.
In a similar vein, a man who won $50 million in the Lotto Max jackpot resumed his job as a driver and head of shipping at a catering company the following week, waking up at 4:30am to avoid letting his colleagues down.
Perhaps the manager had nothing to worry about after all.