The Numbers Are In: $1.7 Billion Powerball Drawn on Christmas Eve
Millions of Americans went to bed on Christmas Eve with visions of sugar plums and a massive lottery ticket clutched tightly in their hands. The fourth-largest Powerball jackpot in US history was officially drawn on Wednesday night, offering a life-changing prize of an estimated $1.7 billion to anyone lucky enough to match all six numbers.
The anticipation reached a fever pitch as the drawing marked the 47th consecutive time the jackpot had rolled over, a new record for the game’s prize cycle. The question on everyone’s mind—did Santa deliver a billionaire to one lucky household?
The Winning Combination
Powerball officials have now released the official numbers for the drawing that took place on Wednesday, December 24, 2025. Be sure to check your tickets against the winning combination:
White Balls: 4, 25, 31, 52, 59
Red Powerball: 19
Power Play Multiplier: 2X
While the official announcement of a jackpot winner may take some time, the drawn numbers now set the stage for an extraordinary claim. Whether there is one winning ticket or multiple, the enormous grand prize is calculated as an annuity paid out over 30 years. However, most winners opt for the immediate cash value. For this massive prize, the lump sum payout was an estimated $781.3 million before taxes.
The Reality of Winning
A prize this large comes with an almost immediate introduction to the world of federal and state taxes. The federal government automatically withholds 24% of the prize money. Beyond that, a winner is likely to face a top federal marginal rate of 37%. While some states, like Texas, Florida, and California, do not tax lottery winnings, others have their own state tax rates that will further reduce the take-home amount.
Despite the high tax bill, the winnings are a mind-boggling sum. To put the magnitude of this jackpot in perspective, it is the fourth-largest lottery prize in American history. Only three jackpots have ever been larger, including the record-breaking $2.04 billion Powerball prize claimed by a single ticket in California in 2022.
The monumental size of the prize is a direct result of the long odds of winning the jackpot, which currently stand at a staggering 1 in 292.2 million. While the jackpot chase is thrilling, the drawing also produced a large number of smaller, but still significant, winners across the nation. In the Monday drawing that preceded this record Christmas Eve prize, for example, there were nine tickets sold that matched all five white balls to win $1 million prizes.
For now, all eyes are on lottery headquarters, awaiting the news of whether a new billionaire has joined the ranks just in time to celebrate the holidays.