The winner of the enormous $1.82 billion Powerball jackpot drawn on Christmas Eve has now been identified, and he ended up surrendering around 70 percent of the headline figure by choosing a different payout route.
Many people have daydreamed about how they would spend a lottery windfall, but trying to picture what it means to win more than a billion dollars is on an entirely different scale.
In Powerball, the advertised jackpot is the annuity amount, not the amount a winner receives in cash. Winners can usually choose between a 30-payment annuity spread over 29 years or a one-time cash option, and both amounts are shown before federal and state taxes are taken out.
For Tracy Hartwick, that fantasy became real. Hartwick, who is the younger brother of North Little Rock Mayor Terry Hartwick, has been named as the person who held the winning ticket for the $1.82 billion Powerball drawing on Christmas Eve 2025.
Big jackpot winners are usually able to choose how they want to collect their money, with options such as installments over time or a single upfront payment. Each option carries different advantages and drawbacks.
Hartwick is said to have opted for the lump-sum payment, a choice that dramatically reduced the amount he actually received compared with the advertised jackpot total.
The cash option was worth roughly $834.9 million before taxes. Once federal and state withholdings were deducted, his estimated final take-home amount fell to about $565 million.
So how did he secure the massive prize?
Hartwick bought his ticket at a Murphy USA gas station and store in Cabot, Arkansas. He selected 10 sets of numbers and added the Power Play feature.
The jackpot was won with the very first set listed on his ticket, which matched the numbers 4, 25, 31, 52, 59, and Powerball 19.
Although Hartwick hoped to keep his identity private, Arkansas law meant that confidentiality could only last for six months because he is related to an elected official under Arkansas Act 889 of 2021. Under that law, winners of prizes above $500,000 can generally keep their information confidential, but the shorter six-month window applies when the winner is an elected official or a close relative of one.
Earlier in 2026, his brother Terry faced allegations that he had inappropriately touched two teenage girls after a high school choir performance in December 2025.
No charges were ultimately filed against the 77-year-old mayor, with investigators saying there was no evidence to substantiate the claims.
Arkansas Special Prosecutor Robbie Jones wrote in a letter:
“For any of the sexual offenses to apply, the State would have to present evidence that the contact was for the purpose of the Mayor’s sexual gratification. As with a charge under Harassment, the proof of this element is lacking, which is fatal to any prosecution under Sexual Assault 2nd [degree].”