Man wins $22 million Powerball jackpot, keeps 28-year old promise to give half of any win to best friend

New Delhi: Two friends in America’s Wisconsin – Thomas Cook and Joseph Feeney – had promised to each other in 1992 that if one of them ever gets to win a Powerball jackpot, half of the lottery winnings with the other will be shared.

Thomas Cook won the Wisconsin Powerball jackpot worth $22million on July 10, 2020 and he remembered his 28-year old promise of sharing half of his win with Joseph Feeney.

Cook told in an interview Thursday with the Wisconsin Lottery that when he read the first two or three numbers of the ticket, he “froze”, and then passed on the ticket over to his wife and she too “froze".

After winning the lottery, Cook called Feeney and said that he was going to keep his promise of splitting the win.

Both friends don’t have any extravagant plans for the winnings but are looking forward to enjoying more family time, a Wisconsin lottery release said.

Choosing the cash option of approximately $16.7 Million, Cook and Feeney each have taken home about $5.7 million after federal and state taxes.

This Wisconsin’s 18th Powerball jackpot win since Wisconsin debuted the game in 1992 and the first Wisconsin Powerball jackpot won since March 2019 when Wisconsin had a record-setting $768.4 Million jackpot winner.