New Powerball lottery billionaire Yanira Alvarez has already lost half of cash as she stays silent on historic win

THE winner of the $1.08 billion Powerball jackpot has been identified as Yanira Alvarez.

The new-minted billionaire was finally named over the weekend, nearly eight months after the ticket was sold at the Las Palmitas Mini Market in Los Angeles in July 2023.

Alvarez, whose winning numbers were 7, 10, 11, 13, 24, and the red Powerball 24, opted to collect the $1.08 billion payout in a lump sum.

She took home a lump sum of about $558.1 million after taxes.

Angelica Menjivar, the stepdaughter of the store's manager, described the Powerball winner as a "Hispanic lady."

"An old lady. 100% a Latina lady," Menjivar told the New York Post on Saturday.

California requires jackpot winners to be named along with their location.

Alvarez declined to make any public comments with the announcement.

Although Alvarez won't see the total of her winnings, the California lottery uses funds from drawings to support local schools.

“We can’t thank our players enough for their help in supporting California’s public schools,” California Lottery Director Harjinder K. Shergill Chima said.

“Our mission is what drives us every day, and while jackpot prizes change lives for the big winners, they’re also making an important difference in the lives of students and teachers in classrooms across the state.”

Alvarez is now the third billion-dollar Powerball jackpot winner to come out of California, joining Edwin Castro and Theodorus "Theo" Struyck.

POWERBALL BILLIONAIRES

Struyck, who represents the group that won $1.76 billion in October 2023, was named the winner of the second-largest jackpot in US history in early March.

The 65-year-old grandfather purchased the ticket in Frazier Park, a mountain town north of Los Angeles, last October and is believed to have collected the prize shortly after.

He's been described to The U.S. Sun as a humble family man by friends and neighbors.

Neighbors believe Struyck will not splurge his earnings, unlike his fellow Powerball winner counterpart, Edwin Castro.

Castro, a former mechanic from Los Angeles, netted a record $2.04 billion in November 2022, the largest lottery jackpot in the nation's history.

Since then, Castro has been pictured cruising in a row of vintage vehicles, including Porsches and Volkswagons.

Castro, 32, has even purchased several luxury real estate properties around the Los Angeles area, including a $25.5 million bachelor pad in Hollywood Hills and a $4 million home for his family in Altadena.

10 Biggest US Lottery Winners

1. $2.04 billion - Edwin Casto - Powerball
2. $1.765 billion - Theodorus Struyck - Powerball
3. $1.59 billion - Split by three people - Powerball
4. $1.58 billion - Saltine’s Holdings LLC - Mega Millions
5. $1.54 billion - Anonymous - Mega Millions
6. $1.35 billion - Anonymous - Mega Millions
7. $1.34 billion - Anonymous - Mega Millions
8. $1.13 billion - Unknown - Mega Millions
9. $1.08 billion - Yanira Alvarez - Powerball
10. $1.05 billion - FLL Club of Oakland County - Mega Millions

In 2016, a $1.59 billion dollar Powerball jackpot was won and split between three people.

“I think we can all live on $528 million, don’t you think?” a spokesman for the California Lottery, Russ Lopez, said at the time.

The three people were not named but they were from California, Tennessee, and Florida.