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I bought a ticket last night - expected cash value at that time was $969.7mm so it was right at expected average return. It will probably go up more today. Ki

by chiph 11y ago

I bought a ticket last night - expected cash value at that time was $969.7mm so it was right at expected average return. It will probably go up more today. Kidnapping & being held for ransom would be a very real threat for the winner. If someone could plan to kidnap the one of the president's dogs [0], a multi-millionaire and their family is totally plausible as a target. [0] http://edition.cnn.com/2016/01/08/politics/secret-service-jesus-christ-dog/ http://edition.cnn.com/2016/01/08/politics/secret-service-je...

aaronbrethorst 11y ago
I'm pretty sure Bo wasn't a dognapping target for a ransom: Stockert also claimed he was the son of John F. Kennedy and Marilyn Monroe adding that he had come to the District to go to the Capitol to advocate for $99 per month healthcare and to announce that he was running for President. After his arrest, Stockert stated he was Jesus Christ, and that this could be verified on his license.
jedberg 11y ago
The smart winner would not claim the prize themselves, but instead find a huge law firm to set up a trust and then claim it for them, so no one will know who the winner was. Also, why would this person be any more of a target than the publicly known shareholders of public companies that have more than a billion?
- crpatino 11y ago
  > Also, why would this person be any more of a target than the publicly known shareholders of public companies that have more than a billion? Because rich people have (sometimes multi-generational) experience at being rich. They have multiple layers of security that include lawyers, armed guards, armored vehicles. Also, they invest most of their assets in not easily transferable ways. A jackpot winner is just a middle class joe with a big pile of cash and a target on his back. If you were a lion, wich prey would you pick? The tame cow of the wild buffalo?
  - elif 11y ago
    I'm not sure if i'm foolishly answering a rhetorical question, illustrating your point or just extending the metaphor too far.. but I would attack the wild buffalo instead of poaching an owned cow and triggering a lion hunt by the local police department.
    - crpatino 11y ago
      That would be very valid if you believe the local police department would respond more promptly to a report by an average job, than a case that involves someone the city major goes to golf with every Tuesday. But still, I consider your comment valuable. The point is not just how much meat/money is there to be had in the prey/jackpot. There are risks, opportunity costs and tradeoff that should be evaluated. Probably nothing extremely complex, but not trivial either.
- chiph 11y ago
  Most states have rules that you have to declare your identity to claim the prize. So no shell corporations, LLCs, law firms, etc. allowed. AFAIK, only Delaware, Kansas, Maryland, North Dakota, Ohio and South Carolina allow you to keep your identity private. Bill Ford has corporate security protecting him. Mary Barra at GM does too. They probably get whackos coming after them all the time for concealing the existence of the 100 mpg carburetor, etc.
  - jedberg 11y ago
    > Most states have rules that you have to declare your identity to claim the prize. But there are ways around that. You can transfer the ticket to the lawyer and then have a contract that says the lawyer will pay your trust $908 million. Or whatever your $1000/hr lawyer tells you to do. :)
  - gozur88 11y ago
    If I took home $500m from the lottery I'd hire a security firm, too. It's not really an option, at that point.
- gamblor956 11y ago
  Winners are required to declare their identity to the lottery commission to claim the prize--but they do not have to agree to have their identity publicized in most states. Many winners choose not to be publicly identify. As I recall, one of the winners of last years bigger jackpots chose to remain anonymous.

by chiph 11y ago

aaronbrethorst 11y ago

I'm pretty sure Bo wasn't a dognapping target for a ransom: Stockert also claimed he was the son of John F. Kennedy and Marilyn Monroe adding that he had come to the District to go to the Capitol to advocate for $99 per month healthcare and to announce that he was running for President. After his arrest, Stockert stated he was Jesus Christ, and that this could be verified on his license.

jedberg 11y ago

The smart winner would not claim the prize themselves, but instead find a huge law firm to set up a trust and then claim it for them, so no one will know who the winner was. Also, why would this person be any more of a target than the publicly known shareholders of public companies that have more than a billion?

crpatino 11y ago
> Also, why would this person be any more of a target than the publicly known shareholders of public companies that have more than a billion? Because rich people have (sometimes multi-generational) experience at being rich. They have multiple layers of security that include lawyers, armed guards, armored vehicles. Also, they invest most of their assets in not easily transferable ways. A jackpot winner is just a middle class joe with a big pile of cash and a target on his back. If you were a lion, wich prey would you pick? The tame cow of the wild buffalo?
- elif 11y ago
  I'm not sure if i'm foolishly answering a rhetorical question, illustrating your point or just extending the metaphor too far.. but I would attack the wild buffalo instead of poaching an owned cow and triggering a lion hunt by the local police department.
  - crpatino 11y ago
    That would be very valid if you believe the local police department would respond more promptly to a report by an average job, than a case that involves someone the city major goes to golf with every Tuesday. But still, I consider your comment valuable. The point is not just how much meat/money is there to be had in the prey/jackpot. There are risks, opportunity costs and tradeoff that should be evaluated. Probably nothing extremely complex, but not trivial either.
chiph 11y ago
Most states have rules that you have to declare your identity to claim the prize. So no shell corporations, LLCs, law firms, etc. allowed. AFAIK, only Delaware, Kansas, Maryland, North Dakota, Ohio and South Carolina allow you to keep your identity private. Bill Ford has corporate security protecting him. Mary Barra at GM does too. They probably get whackos coming after them all the time for concealing the existence of the 100 mpg carburetor, etc.
- jedberg 11y ago
  > Most states have rules that you have to declare your identity to claim the prize. But there are ways around that. You can transfer the ticket to the lawyer and then have a contract that says the lawyer will pay your trust $908 million. Or whatever your $1000/hr lawyer tells you to do. :)
- gozur88 11y ago
  If I took home $500m from the lottery I'd hire a security firm, too. It's not really an option, at that point.
gamblor956 11y ago
Winners are required to declare their identity to the lottery commission to claim the prize--but they do not have to agree to have their identity publicized in most states. Many winners choose not to be publicly identify. As I recall, one of the winners of last years bigger jackpots chose to remain anonymous.