Wisconsin Man Keeps 1992 Promise To Split Million-Dollar Lotto Winnings With Buddy

Aug 12, 2020 by apost team

Everyone has a great dream of hitting a lottery someday. Whether through Raffles, Powerball, Megamillions, or scratch off tickets. Whatever motivates us is the different things we can do with the money. Considering the odds of winning, taking home a big prize is a dream for most people. In Mega Millions, the odds are 1 in 302.6 million, while in Powerball, it is 1 in 292.2 million.

Anyway, they say unless you play, you can’t win. Apart from purchasing a high-end car, building or buying a new house, or even helping out a family member, most people talk of not leaving out close friends. That's what happened when one man named Thomas Cook won the Powerball, but instead of keeping his winnings all to himself, he shared the win with his friend Joseph Feeney, who he had made a pact with in 1992 that if they ever won, they'd split the money.

Whenever one talks about the lottery with friends, more likely, they tend to point out that they would share it with them if they won. That’s just talking. However, if you win the jackpot, would you keep the promise? It is so unfortunate that most people would not keep the promise.

There are two friends, Joseph Feeney and Tom Cook, who had a lottery-winning conversation 28 years ago. They had an agreement that if anyone would ever win the Powerball, they would divide the money equally.

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This is something that can be easily forgotten as it was such a long time ago. At that time, these men were so serious about it as they even shook hands.

In 2020, Tom Cook bought a Powerball ticket, and it had the winning numbers. With the prize of $22 million, would he have remembered the agreement with Joseph?

He could have simply gone home and began to make calculations of how much he could donate, spend on his family, and some on himself. It is so amazing that it is the opposite of what crossed his mind first. He had to go back to the year 1992 when he sealed an agreement with his friend.

As it was the promise, Tom made a call to Joseph to inform him.

Joseph could not believe the news that his friend won the Powerball for a prize of $22 million. He spent most of his time fishing, and this reaction would not be a surprise to anyone. Tom had not retired, and since then, he had to call off by quitting. His friend Joseph had already retired, and no one would blame him. Now, it was upon them to decide if they would receive installments or a one-time cash payout payment.

They decided to take the lump-sum by choosing a one-time cash payment. Even after paying all the taxes, they both had a net worth of $8.35 million. They had the ability to do all they wanted. Tom had no other words than to tell Joseph that “a handshake is a handshake.”

However, it is so ironic that both of them had forgotten how the agreement started. With a little investigation done by Wisconsin Lottery, since 1992, when the lottery first started, Tom and Joseph would purchase a ticket every week. If they won, they would share the money. Both of them decided to do more traveling as they continued purchasing their weekly lottery tickets.

While taking breakfast, Tom read the first three numbers, and as soon as he realized that they matched his ticket, he gave it to his wife. Due to the shock, she froze immediately.

Tom and Joseph are looking forward to spending most of their extra time with their children and grandchildren.

How would you feel keeping a promise after waiting for a good 28 years? To most people, it sounds crazy keeping a promise after such a long time. Apart from enjoying the friend they have since those times, they can do anything they want with the money. Tell your friends about this incredible story of luck and friendship!