We all dream of winning big on the lottery but the life story of one American winner shows there’s not always gold at the end of the rainbow.
In 1988, William “Bud” Post III scooped the winning tickets of the Pennsylvania Lottery and was rewarded with a $16.2 million (£11 million) cash prize.
It was perhaps the greatest rags to riches story of all time as when Post won the lottery he had only $2 dollars in his bank account according to TIME magazine.
But what happened next was more the stuff of nightmares than the fairy tale ending many of us might envisage.
As part of Post’s winnings, he was to be awarded an annual payment of around $500,000 – which is more than enough money to do whatever you want with.
The trouble was Post didn’t spend it wisely at all.
Speaking to the LA Times, bankruptcy lawyer John Lacher described Post as “like ‘The Beverly Hillbillies,’ who did everything you would expect of a guy who became a millionaire overnight.”
Within two weeks of his first payment, Post had already spent two-thirds of it on a restaurant and a used car lot.
