Gloria Mackenzie Lottery
The story of a cute old lady winning the lottery later on in life should be charming and heart-warming, right? Unfortunately, real life has the power to taint even the most positive of stories. The Gloria MacKenzie lottery jackpot story is one example of a real-world fairytale gone wrong.
If you’re from Florida, you’ve probably heard about Gloria MacKenzie – a lady who won 590 million dollars from Powerball in 2013 when she was 84. This accomplishment made her the second oldest lottery millionaire in the world. Only one person came ahead of her – Nguyen Van Het who won the lottery at the age of 97.
Mackenzie gladly appreciate your response to my email in respect to my donation of $980,000.00 to you and your amazing family. I really did not expect a response from you especially due to the rapid scam on the internet and news of people loosing their money and homes to fraudsters over the internet with false promises and letters of lottery winnings. Gloria MacKenzie Biography - Powerball Jackpot Winner Gloria MacKenzie – Powerball Winner Gloria MacKenzie, an 84 year old woman who currently resides in Florida won the largest single Powerball Jackpot in history after a courteous stranger let her step ahead of her in line at the supermarket. Gloria Makenzie is revealed as the 84-year-old Powerball winner. Powerball Winner Gloria C Mackenzie certainly had her city guessing. For two whole weeks rumours were rife in the small community and it seemed the only thing people were talking about was who was going to lay claim to the May 18th 2013 $590 million Powerball lottery jackpot that was up for grabs.
Gloria’s 590 million dollars should have paved the path for a life of happiness and worry-free existence. This isn’t precisely what happened. Eventually, the money contributed to family trouble that got so bad; it eventually ended in court.
Winner Gloria MacKenzie of Zephyrhills, central Florida, chose the lump sum rather than collecting $590.5 million in 30 annual payments, Florida Lottery Secretary Cynthia O'Connell said in a news conference at the state lottery headquarters in Tallahassee. Unfortunately, MacKenzie has now filed a suit alleging that her son and his financial advisor mismanaged her winnings since she won the Powerball jackpot in 2013. Before winning the massive Powerball jackpot, Gloria MacKenzie from Zephyrhills, Florida, lived a modest life. She lived in a modest, grey duplex that she was renting at the time.
A Fairytale in the Making: Gloria Wins the Lottery
Gloria MacKenzie from Zephyrhills, Florida, lived a modest life. She was a mill worker, and she had limited financial means to give her life necessities.
Eventually, Gloria decided to buy a Powerball ticket. She was the only one to have all of the numbers correct for the respective drawing, entitled her to the jackpot. At the time, Gloria became the person to be the biggest single jackpot winner in US lottery history.
In the aftermath of winning, Gloria didn’t do a press conference, but she released a public statement to quench some of the thirsty curiosity. She refused annuity payments and instead went for a cash lump sum payment of 370 million dollars.
Gloria also set up the Gloria MacKenzie foundation – an organization that aims to provide educational opportunities to young and talented individuals. It’s reported that Gloria MacKenzie’s donation project benefited from a cash injection of two million dollars after our charitable old lady became a millionaire.
All of this sounds great, but eventually, things started going downhills. The story became darker through the involvement of Gloria’s son in the management of the finances.
Mother and Son at War
In April 2019, media released reports that Gloria MacKenzie (already aged 90) is suing her son and caregiver for the mismanagement of funds won through the lottery.
Scott MacKenzie allegedly used a financial advisor to mismanage his mother’s funds, contributing to losses exceeding 10 million dollars.
Gloria made Scott McKenzie the one person responsible for the management of the millions. Scott took control but five years later, Gloria got pissed, and she turned to the court. In a 40-page lawsuit filing, Gloria claimed that Scott MacKenzie and his financial advisor lived off her money without investing properly.
Allegedly, Scott spent 1.2 million dollars on a five-bedroom home. Initially, he moved in the new estate with his mom. Eventually, however, Gloria was relocated to a new location in Pennsylvania. No information has been provided as to why the move was needed.
According to Gloria’s lawyer Gregory Anderson, Scott started making bad investments after his mother injured herself in a fall. She wasn’t moved to a nursing home, and at that time, Scott began making decisions that weren’t in her favor.
Also, Scott MacKenzie’s financial advisor Hank Madden is being sued for taking advantage of the senior woman. The court filing alleges that the money sat in an account for years without winning anything. Hank, however, charged a two-million-dollar fee for his services.
Anderson said that the money in the investment account set up by Hank Madden was earning between 0.02 and 0.08 percent, which is practically nothing in the finance world.
Gloria had to split her money with MacKenzie Scott because he helped her buy the lottery ticket. Eventually, Scott was the one who suggested his mother use the services of Hank Madden for financial management and better investment control.
Gloria Mackenzie Lottery Scam
So far, Hank Madden has not made a media statement about the allegations or his involvement in the case.
A Son Fights Back
Scott MacKenzie has been a bit more vocal than the financial advisor about the media scandal.
Scott’s lawyer has already filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit. According to the counterclaim, none of the accounts managed by Scott and by his financial advisor have lost money. Besides, the lawyer revealed that Gloria was the one that insisted on a conservative investment approach, which was bound to bring in much lower returns than aggressive investing.
Gloria cannot just sue because she’s unhappy with the return on investment, the counterclaim read.
Scott MacKenzie made a statement that he was deeply disappointed in his mother’s actions. Scott also said that he believes in the justice system and that he hopes the court will eventually see his side of the story.
“Although he strongly disagrees with the allegations that have been made, he will respect his family’s privacy by reserving any further comments until the case has been concluded,”
Scott’s attorney said in a media statement.
It’s up to the court to determine whether the lawsuit will go forward. If it does, Scott MacKenzie and Hank Madden face charges of breaching fiduciary duty, negligence, and exploitation of a vulnerable adult.
Lessons to Be Learned
It’s still too early to tell how Gloria MacKenzie’s story will unfold. One thing is sure – a person has to be careful about the selection of financial advisors.
Even if Scott and his financial advisor didn’t mismanage Gloria’s funds, they still weren’t capable of giving her the outcome that she was hoping for. The result is a broken family and a court drama that’s bound to continue for more time.
Big money changes people, which is why so many have suffered and even lost the lives that they loved in the aftermath of becoming lottery millionaires. Gloria and Scott can still make amends if they manage to put the financial issues aside and focus on their family.
Practice and real-life examples; however, do not paint that much of an optimistic story when it comes to serious money management and greed.
Gloria Mackenzie, an 84-year-old from Zephyrhills, Florida, has claimed the largest Powerball jackpot ever won by a single ticket holder and the jackpot is also the second largest in U.S. history. She bought the winning Powerball ticket at a Publix supermarket and matched the five main numbers plus the Powerball to win the top prize.
Estimated Jackpot
Gloria Mackenzie Lottery
What were the winning Powerball numbers?
The winning numbers for May 18th were 10, 13, 14, 22, 52 and the Powerball number was 11. There were over 4 million prize winners in the drawing and in addition to the jackpot winner, thirty-five players matched five main numbers to win the second-tier prize of $1 million. Two of these players opted for the Power Play, which increased their winnings to $2 million. You can view the full prize breakdown with information on winners and payouts on the dedicated numbers page.
Gloria bought the jackpot-winning ticket at a Publix supermarket in Zephyrhills and told officials: 'While in line at Publix, another lottery player was kind enough to let me go ahead of them in line to purchase the winning Quick Pick ticket.” She had also previously bought four other tickets for the same drawing.
Gloria chose to accept the cash-lump sum of $370.9 million and took home a total of $278 million after taxes. You can find out more about the two different options for claiming a Powerball jackpot on the Cash Vs Annuity page.
How will she spend the winnings?
The retired teacher has reportedly offered $2 million to the Schneck High School in East Millinocket, Maine, where she previously taught and her daughter is currently a biology teacher. Quenten Clark, superintendent of the school district, commented on Gloria’s kind gesture, saying, “East Millinocket was not going to have a school in the long run, and I think with this we'll be able to keep the school going for a while.”
Clint Linscott, chairman of the Board of Selectmen, also commented on Gloria’s good will, saying that Gloria “is a very dedicated Schenck High School teacher. She has remained very respectful during this whole process. She is a good person.”
It has been reported that Gloria will also be sharing a portion of the winnings with her son and they have not yet confirmed what they plan to buy with the remainder of the winnings.
How many Powerball jackpot winners have come from Florida?
Six Powerball jackpot winners have bought their tickets in Florida since the beginning of the game. Christopher McGurran won $50 million on December 26th, 2016 and the Carvajal Family Group won $182.1 million on February 26th, 2011. You can learn more about the latest jackpot winners and the biggest winners ever on the Powerball Winners page.
If you would like to have a chance at winning a large Powerball prize, you can pick up a ticket from any authorized retailer. Fans of the game are also able to choose their numbers online for the next drawing. The winning numbers will be available once verified on the Powerball Numbers section.
Page Last Updated: 29/11/2017 10:57:18