William Post (lottery winner)
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April 5, 1939
William Post | |
|---|---|
| Born | William Post III April 5, 1939 |
| Died | January 15, 2006 (aged 66) |
| Other names | Bud |
| Occupation | Various prior to winning jackpot |
| Spouse | Debra S. Wice |
| Children | 10 |
William "Bud" Post III (April 5, 1939 – January 15, 2006) was the winner of a Pennsylvania Lottery jackpot worth $16.2 million, in 1988. Shortly afterward his brother tried to have him murdered for the inheritance. Post survived, and was successfully sued by an ex-girlfriend for a share of the winnings. By the end of his life, Post was $1 million in debt.[1]
Post was born in Erie, Pennsylvania. His mother died when he was 8 years old and his father sent him to an orphanage soon after. Post worked in various temporary jobs such as in cooking, truck driving for traveling carnivals and circuses, and painting before winning the lottery. He served 28 days in jail for issuing invalid checks.[2] On the day he won the jackpot, he had just $2.46 in his bank account.[3]
Lottery jackpot
Post bought one of the winning tickets of the Pennsylvania Lottery in 1988, worth $16.2 million. The total jackpot was more than $32 million, the second highest total in state history; the other half went to a group of 16 employees of the Westinghouse Electric Bettis Atomic Power Laboratory in Pittsburgh.[4] In the two weeks after Post collected the first of his 26 annual payments of $497,953.47, he spent more than $300,000 on gifts and investments such as a liquor license, a lease for a restaurant in Florida, a used-car lot, and a twin-engine airplane (despite lacking a pilot's license). In just three months' time, his debts totaled $500,000; the next year, he bought a mansion in Oil City, Pennsylvania, for $395,000.[2][3]
According to The Washington Post, he pawned a ring for $40 and gave Ann Karpik, his landlady and occasional girlfriend, the cash for 40 tickets in the state lottery, one of which was the winning ticket. Karpik later sued Post for one-third of the lottery winnings.[2]