Retired Principal Wins Record $326M Mega Millions Jackpot

A retired elementary school principal hit the jackpot, winning $326 million in the Mega Millions lottery, the largest in New York state history. It is also “the 29th time a New Yorker has won the top prize on the multi-state mega jackpot game,” according to the lottery’s website.

Harold Diamond, 80, of Westburo, who reportedly served as principal of George L. Cooke Elementary School, bought the ticket on Election Day 2014 at a gas station near Middletown, where he and his wife stopped to wait out a storm. He said at a Jan. 12 press conference that after he heard someone in the area had bought the winning ticket, he turned on local TV, and, “When I saw the last number, I yelled up to my wife, I think we won a few bucks!”

He also said he wanted to use the money to take his wife Carol to Hawaii for their 55th wedding anniversary and, according to the Associated Press, give “back to the local community.”