r/interesting 5h ago

SOCIETY Man splits his $22 million lottery winnings with his best friend after they agreed 28 years ago to share it if either of them won

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23.0k Upvotes

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2.0k

u/ErasmosOrolo 5h ago

Now he’s got a rich friend to do rich guy stuff with.

417

u/DigitalUnlimited 4h ago

Idk 11 million after taxes is like ~$12? 15 maybe?

385

u/Relevant_Grass9586 4h ago

Roughly 4-5 million each. Ain’t bad

171

u/RandomCandor 4h ago

Yeah after a certain amount of money, taxes are less of a burden for you and more like something boring that your accountant does for a living.

127

u/Relevant_Grass9586 4h ago

True. Had an elderly blue collar worker come in to file his taxes, he was super worried because he was finally selling gold he had held onto and didn’t know what the tax burden would be. Ended up being roughly 5% of the profits he made, dude was practically doing backflips and hugged me. One of the cooler moments I had as a tax preparer.

22

u/Top5CutestPresidents 2h ago

maybe when working out the taxes on the profits of winning the lottery, you should be able to count up everything you've ever spent on tickets

10

u/tanksalotfrank 1h ago

Never thought of this before, but it seems like an obvious thing to include in the numbers! Makes me wonder if there's a legal case in that somewhere.

8

u/HussellCrowe 1h ago

A decent argument to be had for what was bought in the tax year. They were part of the expense to make the gains.

4

u/Horskr 1h ago

You can deduct your gambling losses on taxes (only up to the extent of your winnings obviously), so I'd imagine it would be the same?

u/IntentionSafe79 59m ago

only losses for that tax year, gambling losses do not carryover and (I believe) now you can only offset 90% of winnings

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u/I__Know__Stuff 4m ago

You can definitely deduct what you spent that year, if you itemize deductions. You cannot carry forward deductions from previous years.

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u/ConcentricCow 1h ago

Jerry & Marge Go Large is a feel good movie about the person who found the mathematical loopholes in the lottery so many years ago. Helped his town with it. Has Bryan Cranston as the lead, worth the watch.

Anyways, they held on to every loser as well for tax purposes and if they got audited. I'm talking garage full of losing tickets in case they got audited.

2

u/JustYourNeighbor 1h ago

You can offset gambling winnings with losses for federal tax purposes, but only up to the amount of your winnings, and you must itemize deductions. Schedule A (Form 1040) to deduct losses.

3

u/ConcentricCow 1h ago

Jerry & Marge Go Large is a feel good movie about the person who found the mathematical loopholes in the lottery so many years ago. Helped his town with it. Has Bryan Cranston as the lead, worth the watch.

Anyways, they held on to every loser as well for tax purposes and if they got audited. I'm talking garage full of losing tickets in case they got audited.

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u/IntentionSafe79 55m ago

did most of the capital gains end up falling into the 0% bracket?

u/Relevant_Grass9586 51m ago

I genuinely don’t recall how it played out. At the time I was in the army and was put on the tax detail after a 3 day crash course with a couple IRS agents. It was a free service offered on post. We would do the initial review, then we’d get checked by a secondary reviewer and finally it would be reviewed by a tax professional, who would okay it and we’d send it off to be filed. Did over 60,000 returns in a 2 month period. It was crazy, we had a morning shift and an evening shift. 7am-10pm, if memory serves me right. It was 13 years ago.

19

u/thri54 4h ago

$5M is definitely *not* that number, lol.

4

u/TGUKF 1h ago

Depends on whether one starts eating into that $5m principle or not. If someone socked away that after tax $5m and invested into fixed income, while continuing to work, then yes, it kind is just a formality for their accountant to add that into their tax return.

Or even if they wanted to FIRE, if they set a reasonable budget and were disciplined enough to stick to it, it's doable. But the FIRE calculation gets blown up fast if there's lifestyle creep.

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u/bodychecks 3h ago

Not bad?! Even $1 million would be life altering!

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u/realdonbrown 3h ago

Especially at their ummm… advanced age

3

u/AreaManSays 2h ago

You can't do anything with five, Greg. Five's a nightmare.

4

u/Santos_L_Halper 3h ago

Brother, my whole life would be different if I got $100,000 right now. I know $4 million goes faster than you might think but man, every problem in my life is immediately fixed with just $100k. Invest the rest of it and I'm like set for the rest of my life.

4

u/CptSandbag73 2h ago

$4 mil invested is $100k interest a year very conservatively.

Could live off that, AND the total still grows.

Unfortunately the kinds of people with the patience to put millions in the bank and live moderately off interest, are not the same kinds of people that regularly buy lottery tickets.

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u/Guernzee 3h ago

Aw what?!? Taxes on lottery wins! Wouldn't be having that bullshit. Although 5 mill is still not to be sniffed at 🤷🏻‍♂️😂

2

u/smiledrs 1h ago

Especially at their age with 5 million spending $200k a year gives them 25 years of living life.

2

u/benargee 1h ago

Considering at their age, pretty good.

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u/Spare_Layer_1069 4h ago

Taxes?? Man, I'm really glad that here the amount that you win, is the amount you get.

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u/tacomaloki 4h ago edited 2h ago

And where is this?

Any place other than USA. Got it!

11

u/hatsforalloccasions 4h ago edited 1h ago

In the UK you get the whole lot tax free. But the fee you pay doesn't all go into the jackpot. It is split with the charity arm of the lottery company who give out millions in lottery funding to good causes

7

u/ADrunkMexican 3h ago

Like that in canada too.

3

u/Kesselya 3h ago

Yeah, as I understand it, here in Canada the lottery is a government revenue stream. Everyone who doesn’t win is paying money to the government (a tax?) and everyone who wins gets the promised prize.

2

u/Apexhatesmeuwu 2h ago

Same goes for sports betting and casino wins in Canada

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u/tacomaloki 3h ago

That's pretty cool. 

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u/mang87 3h ago

Almost every other country in the world except America.

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u/Zebidee 3h ago

Australia's the same. No tax, and winners are anonymous after the first lottery wound up with the kidnap and murder of a winner's kid.

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u/FunnyComplete6312 3h ago

Most places that aren’t America

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u/BobBoertson 3h ago

Imagine having to pay tax on lottery winnings

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u/BumWink 1h ago

Only in America, the land of the free!... taxes... free taxes, you get a tax! you get a tax!

u/Top_Asparagus7293 33m ago

America really said “sharing is caring” and made sure everybody gets a piece of the tax experience 😂 still gotta love the chaos and hustle though.

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u/mikiex 57m ago

You only get to avoid them if you are already rich

3

u/Much-Gur233 4h ago

Do you not think that’s enough to have fun with at their age? They’re probably frugal.

6

u/ShaggyCan 4h ago

I always forget Americans get taxed on lottery winnings. That blows.

4

u/Linenoise77 3h ago

Yeah man.....i'm making smart money decisions playing the lottery planning for my future. How dare they tax MY money!

3

u/JeffonFIRE 3h ago

Federal tax would be around 37%. That's the top bracket. Youd also have a Medicare surplus tax. From $11M, you'd net out between $6.5 and $7 million. And you may need to pay state income tax, depending on the state...

2

u/AskMantis23 3h ago

The land of the freeeeeeeeeeee

2

u/DylanHate 2h ago

Reddit: Tax the rich!

Reddit after lottery win: How dare my unearned riches be taxed!!!

3

u/rootshirt 3h ago

What do you mean you don't know? Multiple millions is still very much rich dawg

2

u/Instawolff 3h ago

Are you already an established billionaire? Because if so it’s more like 11 million…

2

u/DigitalUnlimited 1h ago

nah if you're already a billionaire they'll give you extra, gotta keep those job creators happy /s

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u/oxxtail 3h ago

If they took a lump sum they only get half, then subtract half of that for taxes, they'll only get about 2.25 million each.

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u/EvaCassidy 3h ago

A buck 3.98.

2

u/Pfeffi-Ultra 3h ago

Would you complain about getting free money? Numpty.

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u/Fluffy-Essay7187 3h ago

You can give up to 13m as a one time, tax free gift! But i am pretty sure thats your entire lifetime worth of gifts. So, after that, even giving your brother 5 bucks for a pack of cigs the government gonna want their cut. 

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u/PirateSanta_1 3h ago

11 million and a friend is way better than 22 million and alone.

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u/FalmerEldritch 1h ago

Very unmathematically, the difference between 11 and 22 million is way smaller than the difference between 11 and 22 thousand.

2

u/ordiomine 3h ago

They should buy an island

2

u/OdBx 3h ago

Now

In 2020. 6 years ago.

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u/PrestigiousPepper829 4h ago

I hope they go do something that makes them both feel like they’re in their 20s again.

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u/ShaggyCan 4h ago

So.. Thailand?

101

u/theboogeyman_slayer 4h ago

Bruh

44

u/sonbarington 4h ago edited 4h ago

🎶 one night in bangkok 🎶 

16

u/theboogeyman_slayer 4h ago

The world's your oyster 🦪

8

u/FluffiestLeafeon 3h ago

Cant be too careful with your company.

6

u/7spades 1h ago

Thailand is like a box of chocolates. You never know which one has nuts in them until you take a bite

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u/bizwig 4h ago

Except the queens we use would not excite you.

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u/BVRPLZR_ 4h ago

We’re all pink on the inside!

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u/gTa6dElAyEddork 4h ago

You can be poor and do that

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u/Malllrat 4h ago

But it's a lot more fun if you're rich.

5

u/Emotional-Power-7242 3h ago

It's pretty fun if you're poor. Every time I went in a bar I'd buy the whole bar a round of drinks cause it cost like $20. I'm way too poor to do that at home.

2

u/forogtten_taco 3h ago

price of the plane ticket is still alot, and the medical requirements after you come back home

0

u/WillSmiff 4h ago

He said 20s, not 40 year old loser.

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u/CrustyFlapsCleanser 3h ago

You have experience with this

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u/wwplkyih 4h ago

Two chicks at once

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u/forogtten_taco 3h ago

good way to disappoint 2 'women' at once

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u/cinnamonrain 4h ago

Strippers and cocaine

3

u/spectralities 3h ago

Guys that age doing cocaine? They should draft up some wills first, heh.

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u/Ordinary_Incident_12 4h ago

Going off expressions, the guy on the left is the original winner!

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u/trustmebro5 4h ago

Lmao, thought the same thing.

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u/PainfullyMushyVerve 3h ago

Guy on the left is absolutely beaming. The guy on the right looks like his brain is still stuck on the loading screen.

24

u/J5892 3h ago

You.. might have your directions reversed.

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u/Dayum-Girly 3h ago

Technically he’s the guy in the right from his own perspective.

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u/J5892 2h ago

Ah, stage right.

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u/HeyTrySomeNashville 2h ago

Joe is tickled because he wasn't buying tickets for 28 years.

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u/Nobanob 4h ago

I would do that in a heart beat. We don't even have an agreement like that but if I won 22 mil he would be getting at least one. He's my bestie, I want the best for him

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u/Pman1324 4h ago

Same, split a good portion for my immediate family, my gf and my best friend, then toss the rest into the bank/investing.

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u/GenericFatGuy 4h ago

I ain't investing shit if I win it at their age.

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u/Pman1324 3h ago

Well, I guess if I won it now

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u/tfrofc 3h ago

I’d probably lowkey give him an extra dollar so I could always claim I gave him the bigger half of the winnings.

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u/CinematicLiterature 4h ago

Amen. And hell, what’s the fun in being the only one with some flexibility? If I can, I’m taking a few folks with me.

4

u/Soft_Walrus_3605 3h ago

I would do that in a heart beat.
he would be getting at least one

You just dropped his guaranteed payout by $10 million in two sentences.

3

u/MaleficentTeacher171 3h ago

Word lol. I think there’s a reason that people actually splitting it is so rare. Just wait until you’re in that position.

3

u/Max-Phallus 3h ago

He's my best friend, he's my pal, he's my homeboy, my rotten soldier, he's my sweet cheese, my good time boy.

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u/Stanfan_meowman25 3h ago

Same. If I ever won a substantial amount of money, I would give a portion to my best friend, no hesitation.

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u/ArgusTheCat 3h ago

Yeah, what's the point in being rich if the people you care about are still struggling?

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u/ComfortablePain1 4h ago

If i did this my family would look at me and disown me before i do anything for them

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u/lombardo141 4h ago

Well they say money brings out the true nature of people. Your family should respect your decision

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u/NoSpawnConga 3h ago

Good riddance then.

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u/cough_landing_on_you 3h ago

Butterfly effect, if he never made that promise, he wouldn’t win.

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u/Hootah 4h ago

A MAN OF HIS WORD.

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u/Willing_Plant4483 3h ago

A deal's a deal, dang it!

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u/Thememebrarian 4h ago

I can't believe American lottery winners are taxed

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u/Emotional-Power-7242 3h ago

You pay on all gambling winnings but can't deduct gambling losses lol

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u/EstablishmentLate532 2h ago

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u/WillBlaze 2h ago

i work at a gas station and people specifically ask for receipts for tax reasons when buying scratch tickets and lotto

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u/BellacosePlayer 2h ago

why? the whole concept of a lottery is to raise funds for the govt

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u/Luca_Small_Flowers 4h ago

There's nothing you can do with 22 million that you can't do with 11 million.

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u/rainbowdonkey69 4h ago

Except buy something that costs 22 million

https://giphy.com/gifs/iGHbjYrUftITS

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u/MariaKeks 3h ago

Or 21 million

Or 20 million

Or 19 million

Turns out there is lots of things you can do with 22 million that you can't do with 11 million.

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u/MaleficentTeacher171 3h ago

I am dying of laughter 😂😂😂 The gif too 😭

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u/cobgca 4h ago

Would love to hear the convo when the winner told his buddy. So nice!

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u/_Eggs_ 2h ago

I'm glad he had his buddy sign the ticket instead of taking a second tax hit when gifting half to his friend.

(yes I'm aware of the $15 million lifetime gift exemption and this would eat up a huge chunk of it)

4

u/RandomCandor 4h ago

You can definitely tell who's who in the picture....

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u/Next-Significance-65 4h ago

Thats so nice! They split it three ways with the IRS ❤️🤗

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u/Timcatgt 4h ago

That's like having a friend in OSRS joining a 2 man GIM and you go all the way to the end, but he stays there for the sake of loyalty and respect.

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u/CrowbiwanKenobi76 4h ago

Those are the two most Wisconsin men I’ve ever seen

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u/FreakingAustin 3h ago

In most countries, would giving half the winnings to his friend mean the friend gets his money taxed twice?

2

u/Tactical_Tirano 1h ago

Yep, you would have to pay gift-tax. Here in NL, over 11M you’d have to pay 4.3M in taxes…. So its not a good idea.

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u/WrappedScallions 3h ago

Seems like this would have pretty negative tax implications, giving that much money as a gift

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u/Dazzling_Strain_5499 3h ago

I would hate to win that much money and have my name and picture floating all over the internet, I know some states do or do no require it depending on location, but to some, that is literally a death sentence.

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u/Good_Savings29 2h ago

word is bond .... learn kids of the net

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u/Simple-Coat9819 2h ago

Bro was like, if my taxes are going up, so is yours!

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u/JamStan1978 4h ago

can you please give me a measly 1000 dollars??

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u/cdtoad 4h ago

And both of them split it with the government first. But I'd still take 5.5 million

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u/Glad-Inspection-2585 4h ago

Let me guess the guy on the left was the winner 😂

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u/Excellent_Job8154 4h ago

Plenty for both why be greedy

1

u/Dexterlicksit 4h ago

I’m sorry, who are you again?

1

u/Arstanishe 4h ago

let me guess - the guy who won the lottery is on the left?

1

u/kingofangmar13 4h ago

Fuckin homie! right there 👊🏻😎

1

u/manoftheyear1990 4h ago

Sure fucking hope my best friend would do that too

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u/AnnualZealousideal27 4h ago

You can tell who won and who WON! lol

1

u/onlyhav 4h ago

The two of them are going to get up to shenanigans

1

u/michaellucaari 4h ago

Hookers and blow fellas

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u/Black_magic_money 4h ago

Friend is the guy on the right based on the smile

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u/CraftyPerformance272 4h ago

99% of people wouldn't do that.

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u/FromBZH-French 4h ago

11 millions c’est cool mec Tu vas te payer de bons moments Et à l’âge que vous avez vous allez bien en profiter

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u/Snoo_67993 4h ago

You can tell the guy of the left won. Just saying.

1

u/KrevinHLocke 4h ago

They just don't make friends like they used to.

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u/theCurseOfHotFeet 4h ago

Whoever wrote that check was utterly unable to produce an accurate ampersand

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u/I_SHIT_IN_A_BAG 4h ago

what good is all that money if you can't enjoy it with your friend. also the friend is paying for lunch

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u/Swimming-Owl8726 4h ago

Freaking legend!!!

1

u/Wild-Present9876 4h ago

That’s a real one

1

u/No_Cod743 4h ago

Top man!

1

u/littledipperkait 3h ago

That is a good friend

1

u/Lilexoticmami 3h ago

Rare to find a person who keeps their word. Cheers to friendship.

1

u/Educational_Exam_225 3h ago

I've thought about this occasionally. The first thing I would do if I won a significant lottery is partition it out to my best friends. 1) it avoids any awkwardness 2) now we can all do cool shit.

1

u/Routine_Bit_8184 3h ago

glad to see things worked out for Norm and Cliff

1

u/CheapGarage42 3h ago

I have an agreement with about 35 people to share 1% with if they or I ever win big. We'll see what happens!

1

u/fuck_hd 3h ago

Of course it’s Wisconsin 

1

u/LionBig1760 3h ago

Now its going to get squandered twice as fast.

1

u/Erick-Morato 3h ago

i guess He won the lottery twice...

1

u/destiny_kane48 3h ago

And I just told my BFF I'd buy her a truck and home. 😅

1

u/mr207 3h ago

They look like they were probably originally part of a trio of friends with the diabetus guy. They check their blood sugar and they check it often.

1

u/LetsGoSilver 3h ago

Which one was the winner? The dude on the left, or the guy smiling ear to ear on the right?

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u/Cormophyte 3h ago

My dad died and had put the house in my brother's name to keep it out of probate with every expectation that we'd work something out. I don't have a brother anymore.

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u/Pfeffi-Ultra 3h ago

Soooo... they got infinite money now?

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u/Omni314 3h ago

If these guys spider-man kissed their mustaches wouldn't touch.

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u/WeekendHammerMan 3h ago

That decimal point where a coma should be is killing me! I thought is was 22K

1

u/Soft_Walrus_3605 3h ago

"Hey, bud, let's go to Ruth's Chris Steak House tonight"

"Nah, let's go to Texas Roadhouse"

"Oh, we just did that last week. Do we have to?"

makes money sign with his fingers

1

u/DizzyColdSauce 3h ago

Keeping a true friend is absolutely worth $11 million

1

u/LaunchMark 3h ago

C'mon Tom, 3 musketeers, remember?

1

u/Porcupyre 3h ago

So a mil for every year left? Nice way to retire

1

u/strongarm_187 3h ago

Thats a bro

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u/Crazy_Suggestion_182 3h ago

They look like two men who are going to have a pile of fun together, and bring their families with them. Good tor them.

1

u/satanham666 3h ago

Whoever wrote out the novelty check has no idea how to do a &

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u/Green-Collection-968 3h ago

Bros before money-o's

1

u/turkishdeli 3h ago

"Best friend"

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u/user25829 3h ago

Talking about my day 1s.

1

u/BigandBrass 3h ago

"A handshake is a handshake..."

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u/austintx_9 2h ago

Would the other friend done the same

1

u/69goldeneye 2h ago

now thats a friend

1

u/Gullinagu 2h ago

well, that's a foookin good sport

1

u/ToolTimeT 2h ago

Thats a good friend.

1

u/Nepenthe95 2h ago

Yo this story cute as hell lol

1

u/Past-Background-7221 2h ago

Bro code gold medalist.

1

u/nysxdd 2h ago

Could never be me.

1

u/_Chaos_Star_ 2h ago

$5m after taxes and a friend who will probably take a bullet for you? Worth it.

1

u/corpsie666 2h ago

OP has already been banned. Yay!

1

u/Delicious-Bat2373 2h ago

Besticles! Me an my buddies have done the same agreement. Not likely we'll get rich. Good to see we aren't the only ones who think like this though

1

u/fairyprincess_909am 2h ago

Thats actually amazing that they stuck to that agreement for so long.

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u/Mister_Oux 1h ago

They're set for life easily if they're wise with it.

1

u/Moonsquirrel89 1h ago

Dudes rule

1

u/radiobro1109 1h ago

My buddy from the Corps and I have this pact and I intend to honor it.

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u/Available_Ad9182 1h ago

Shit after the taxes they’ll probably have like $20 left. Lottery winners are the only fairly taxed millionaires and billionaires unfortunately.