Jack Whittaker — An Unlucky Lottery Winner

For most people, the thought of winning the lottery is an exciting one.

However, it appears that for many of the “lucky,” winning the lottery starts a downward spiral which may end in death, criminal conduct, and lawsuits.  See For lottery winners, trouble followed fortune, USA Today, Nov. 28, 2005, at 3A.

A detailed report about one of these lucky-unlucky individuals, Jack Whittaker, appears in Martin Bashir & Sara Holmberg, Powerball Winner Says He’s Cursed, ABC News, April 7, 2007.  Here are some of the key parts of Jack’s story:

• Learned he won $315 million in Powerball lottery on December 25, 2002.
• Intended to use money for the common good such as to feed people who didn’t have food and build churches.
• Gave $15 million of construction of two churches.
• Established Jack Whittaker Foundation, making over $50 million in grants to individuals for houses, cars, etc.
• Defended over 400 claims from his construction business, all of which were made since he won the lottery.
• Began drinking excessively to console himself about the lawsuits which were damaging his company’s reputation.
• Spent excessive amounts on his granddaughter who then became a heavy user of illegal drugs and ended up dead from an unknown cause.

Special thanks to David S. Luber for bringing this article to my attention.