Mega Millions 'in Newly Charted Territory' at $1.6 Billion

The jackpot for Mega Millions has now hit $1.6 billion, with a drawing Tuesday evening.
By Adam Smith ,

The jackpot for Mega Millions has now hit $1.6 billion, with a drawing Tuesday, Oct. 23, at 11 p.m. ET.

"This is epic, we're in newly charted territory here at $1.6 billion," Christian Teja, a spokeswoman for Mega Millions, told TheStreet.

Players have until 10:45 p.m. to grab a $2 ticket. If no one gets the right numbers - as happened Friday - then the jackpot is expected to grow even bigger. Mega Millions will release forecasts for that possibility later in the afternoon Tuesday, said Teja.

But for now, the possible winner could come home some $900 million richer after taxes.

Though the odds are vanishingly small, scoring the right numbers could put someone among the nation's richest.

To put the winnings in perspective, NBC News reported the winner would be about as wealthy as music star Jay-Z or be in a reasonable position to bid for the Boston Bruins hockey team, if it were up for sale, or potentially, "The Mona Lisa."

If there's no winner tonight, the next jackpot numbers will be drawn Friday, Oct. 26.

But don't get too excited: The odds of winning are even poorer than they were last week, when one expert, Chris O'Byrne, a management information systems lecturer at San Diego State University, told TheStreet you'd be 30 times more likely to get hit by an airplane piece falling from the sky than win Mega Millions.

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