A lot of us fantasise about how we’d spend a big lottery win. Apparently when it comes down to it, 1 in 10 would spent it on plastic surgery. We thought we’d put together a list of seven people and how they spent their big money win.
Michael Carroll
Probably the most famous lottery winner in the UK, Michael Carroll spent his pay-out more lavishly and decadently than any of us would dare.
Referred to as the ‘Lotto Lout’, he indulged all of his desires and who can blame him? No one could begrudge a person for wanting to splurge.
A mansion, expensive cars, and parties, he even turned his garden into a banger racetrack for him and his mates. He spent his money the exact way you shouldn’t, but the way we’d all secretly want to.
In the end it’s all but gone, but Carroll isn’t sad. Back working, he said he didn’t have a single regret. In his own words, “I’ve had fun, still got my properties, got two beautiful girls. What more could I ask for?”
Roy Gibney
When Roy Gibney won the lottery he acted in a similar way to others by splashing out on some luxury. That’s not what makes him stand out though. We all love a down-to-earth lottery winner, and so, after 14 years of not working he got bored and went back to it.
He set up a sheet metal business and he’s been running it ever since. He also only owns one car, saying, “you can only drive one at a time, so there’s no point in owning ten.” Fair point.
He also got into a bit of trouble for refusing to remove a vegetable patch he’d set up for local disadvantaged kids. With no proper planning permission, he was eventually fined £10.50. We’re guessing that wasn’t too much of a hit.
John Kutey
Across the pond in the States, we find lottery winner John Kutey. He shared a $319m jackpot with six other people. Not to be sniffed at that. So what do you do with all that cash? You build a waterpark obviously.
In honour of his and his wife’s parents, Kutey used $200k to rebuild a park in Green Island, New York. Having been around since the 1940s, it was in urgent need of repair and updating. With no tax money forthcoming, Kutey sorted it out himself.
Eventually called Spray Park, you can’t put a value on the enjoyment the local kids will get out of that place for the years to come.
Thea Bristow
Thea Bristow won a massive £15m in the National Lottery in 2004. Tragically, 6 years later her husband Paul died of a heart attack. Paul himself was a generous man with his share of the winnings used to buy out his local team Torquay United, which stopped them from going under.
Thea herself didn’t have much interested in football but after her husband passed she kept involved with the club anyway, eventually becoming a director. She stood down from this role in 2015 and became lifetime president instead.
“I am afraid I will continue to be an ever-present sight and sound at Torquay’s matches, waving and clacking in what I hope is a presidential manner,” she said as she announced her resignation. What a lady.
Les Scadding
Another football related spend here. Scadding picked up £45.5m for himself in 2009. After sorting out his kids for life and donating to various charities, he decided to get involved in sport. A fan of Newport County A.F.C, he became their chairman in 2012.
Now, it’s a massive dream for plenty of people to run their own football club, but it’s even better when you succeed at it. Less than a year after taking over, he took Newport to the Football League, the first time they’d been there in 25 years.
He’s since resigned to spend more time in Barbados and there’s something great about that. Swooping in, returning a club to past glories, and then riding off into the heat of a Caribbean sunset.
Allen and Violet Large
It’s pretty common for lottery winners to give away some of their cash, but what about 98% of it? That’s some next level generosity and it’s exactly what Allen and Violet Large did. They won $11.2m back in 2010 and sent it off to various places such as the Red Cross and the hospitals that treated Violet’s cancer.
Even now Allen still gets lottery tickets despite Violet passing in 2011. What will he do with the money if he wins again you ask? He’d give it away of course. As Allen put it himself, “What you’ve never had, you never miss.”
Bob Erb
Erb is probably more famous for his pro-marijuana campaigning and donations, but one of his first acts after his $25m win was like something out of a film.
Just a week before his lucky day he’d been at a restaurant when he’d started chatting to the owner, Cliff Luther. Luther mentioned his daughter had recently been diagnosed with cancer, while Erb sympathised as his son had been taken by the
disease previously.
So far just a couple of guys discussing some more negative parts of their lives, but within seven days Erb was back. He ordered a burger and some friends and handed over cheque for $10,000. He tells Luther to keep the change.
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