Shop owner scores $1 million bonus for selling the winning Powerball ticket - CNN

Los Angeles CNN Business  — 

The proprietor of Joe’s Service Center successful Altadena, California, who came to the United States from Syria successful 1980 with $14,000 successful his pocket, is present a millionaire aft selling the sole winning Powerball lottery ticket.

California Lottery officials presented the cheque to Joe Chahayed and his sons Joe Jr. and Danny connected a rainy predetermination time extracurricular of their state station.

Chahayed said lottery officials were waiting for him earlier helium opened his store this morning. “They said, ‘congratulations, your presumption sent a winner,’” helium recounted.

Chahayed hopes the victor is from the neighborhood, and is gladsome a information of the lottery wealth volition go towards California schools. “I person 11 grandchildren and I person to stock with them,” helium said, past thanked the media for coming retired successful the rainfall to observe the winnings. “I promote you to bargain a summons from this station. We warrant you 1 time you’re going to beryllium winners too,” said Chahayed.

“Somebody is holding connected to a precise important portion of insubstantial this greeting worthy $2.04 billion, that’s 2 cardinal forty cardinal dollars,” said Carolyn Becker, California Lottery spokesperson. “That idiosyncratic needs to support it safe. We volition not cognize who they are until they travel forward, but we person a 2nd grounds to speech astir contiguous and that’s California lottery raised much wealth than ever acknowledgment to 1 increasing jackpot for California nationalist schools.” She said this is the first time the California lottery has created a billionaire.

Chahayed came to America 42 years agone with his woman and 2 children. “I enactment hard, 7 days a week, I rise my kids, postgraduate from college, I bought a house, and I bought a concern each due to the fact that I enactment hard and I’m an honorable man,” Chahayed boasted.