Meet Andrew Jackson "Jack" Whittaker, Jr.
Quick Bio:
- Age; 70 years old
- Jackpot won; $315 million Powerball jackpot(Single Ticket) in Dec. 2002
- Occupation before winning; President of Diversified Enterprises Construction worth $17 million.
- Payout; Chose the cash option of $113,386,407, after taxes
Two facts are established;
- He was millionaire before.
- He was extremely lucky.
So what went wrong, you ask?
For starters, he pledged 10% of his winnings to Christian charities—including several churches affiliated with the Church of God—in southern West Virginia.
That 10% was an equivalent of $ 11,338,640. Damn!
He also donated $14 million to establish the Jack Whittaker Foundation, a non-profit organization that provides food and clothing to low-income families in rural West Virginia.
Moreover, for the deli manager who served the biscuits at the convenience store where he purchased the winning ticket, he purchased a $123,000 house and a new Jeep Grand Cherokee and gave her a check for $44,000.
Who is this guy? An Angel! (Just Kidding.) He’s kind at heart and honestly beyond generous. That doesn’t make him stupid…right?
But check this out;
Whittaker spent money at
Strip Clubs and casinos.
We all have our demons, well this was his. Coupled with heavy drinking and a bad habit for carrying cash in his car.
Thieves stole $545,000 from his car in a West Virginia strip club parking lot while he was inside in Aug, 2003.
We all learn from our mistakes, right? Jack did not.
Thieves once again broke into his car, stealing an estimated $200,000 in cash that was later recovered in Jan, 2004.
I mean come on “Jack” WTF!
When asked why he would carry that much money around with him, Whittaker responded "because I can".
What a dummy? Do you sense the Pride? It had consumed his heart.
2004- till present.
A string of personal tragedies followed.
In Sept. 2004, his granddaughter’s boyfriend was found dead from a drug overdose in Whittaker’s home.
Three months later, the granddaughter also died of a drug overdose; “I wish I’d torn that ticket up,” he sobbed to reporters at the time of his daughter’s death.
May her soul rest in peace.
Her mother, Ginger Whittaker Bragg, died five years later on July 5, 2009.
He’s was also sued by Caesars Atlantic City casino for bouncing $1.5 millionworth of checks to cover gambling losses.
In Dec. 2016 Whittaker's home caught fire. When firefighters arrived, the home was fully engulfed. Whittaker stated that the home was not insured.
To Sum it up.
Some may say a lot of tradegy befell him, I totally agree but he fucked up.
- He spent his money at strip clubs and casinos yet he would have invested in a passive income business like Real estate, Oil and Gas, Education. etc
- He negligently left money in his car and got robbed twice.
- He had a gambling addiction; I mean look at it this way, he had beat staggering odds of 292 million and walked away with a huge prize, why risk it again?
- He showered gifts and cash on his beloved 16-year-old granddaughter, who spent much of the money on drugs. This could have been avoided by controlling her finances.
- He was kinda too generous. Did you know that one of the beneficiary congregations constructed a multi-million-dollar church in Hurricane?
If that’s not stupid, then bite me.
Full Bio; Here[1]
Footnotes
[1] Jack Whittaker (lottery winner) - Wikipedia
