02 March 2007

who knew a smart person could win the lottery?

thanks to my friend ron for forwarding this one

Taking home the jackpot

Here's how one lucky winner spent his new-found fortune

By Ellen Florian Kratz, Fortune writer

(Fortune Magazine) -- Brad Duke, 34, a manager for five Gold's Gym franchises in Idaho, pocketed a lump sum of $85 million after winning a $220 million Powerball jackpot in 2005. He spent the first month of his new life assembling a team of financial advisors. His goal: to use his winnings to become a billionaire. Here's what Duke has done with his money so far.

  • $45 million: Safe, low-risk investments such as municipal bonds
    • $35 million: Aggressive investments like oil and gas and real estate
    • $1.3 million: A family foundation
    • $63,000: A trip to Tahiti with 17 friends
    • $125,000: Mortgage retired on his 1,400-square-foot house
    • $18,000: Student-loan repayment
    • $65,000: New bicycles, including a $12,000 BMC road bike
    • $14,500: A used black VW Jetta
    • $12,000: Annual gift to each family member
[keep reading here]

2 comments:

Pradeep Bonde said...

To me the more interesting part of the story was that the guy had built a software to pick lottery numbers. So I am currently researching that.

walter said...

the best ideas can come from the least likely places or when we least expect them...

as for me, i really appreciate inter- or cross-disciplinary approaches to GIS modeling, problem sovling, etc

novel frameworks provide novel insights