Oregon Man Wins $8.4 Million Jackpot — And Doesn't Realize It For An Entire Month The 68-year-old retiree was "in shock" when he realized what had happened.

By Emily Rella

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

Oregon Lottery
David Shultze holds his winning jackpot prize of $8.4 million.

Imagine beating the odds and winning a lottery jackpot — but not realizing it until nearly a month later.

That was the case for 68-year-old David Schultze of Milwaukie, Oregon, who won an $8.4 million jackpot on Oregon's Game Megabucks ticket. The numbers were drawn on January 24.

However, Schultze didn't look at his ticket until February 23 and realized he had been sitting on millions of dollars for an entire month.

Related: Man Wins $22M Lottery But Won't Tell His Children, Parents

Thankfully, Oregon's lottery policy allows winners to claim their prizes within one year of the winning numbers being drawn, and Schultze was able to retrieve his prize the following Monday, after spending the "whole weekend in shock."

Schultze is already a retiree and said that he isn't a frequent lottery player. He has "no plans for any big splurges" but plans to invest the majority of his winnings.

The Safeway in Gladstone, Oregon where he purchased the winning numbers also received an $84,000 bonus (1% of the winning jackpot) upon Schultze's claiming of the ticket.

The Oregon Game Megabucks automatically resets to $1 million once the winner claims their prize.

Related: Maryland Man Wins Lottery Jackpot 15 Times on 15 Tickets

The Oregon Lottery has earned over $15.5 billion for the state since it started selling tickets to residents in 1985.

As of Friday morning, the Oregon Game Megabucks was set at $2.5 million, with the next drawing slated for Saturday evening.

Emily Rella

Senior News Writer

Emily Rella is a Senior News Writer at Entrepreneur.com. Previously, she was an editor at Verizon Media. Her coverage spans features, business, lifestyle, tech, entertainment, and lifestyle. She is a 2015 graduate of Boston College and a Ridgefield, CT native. Find her on Twitter at @EmilyKRella.

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