A Portland man, his wife, and their friend are making history as winners of the fourth largest Powerball jackpot, amounting to $1.3 billion. Cheng “Charlie” Saephan, 46, purchased the ticket for the April 6, 2024 drawing and was the only person in the country to match all five numbers plus the Powerball.

 

Saephan is sharing the prize with 37-year-old Duanpen Saephan, his wife, and friend Laiza Chao, 55, of Milwaukie. The prize will be split among the three individuals: 50% (Chao) and 25%, 25% (Saephans). All three elected to take the cash option, which totals $422,309,193.97 after taxes, reports the Powerball website.

 

Saephan, who has battled cancer and is fighting a recurrence, was relying on a combination of faith and luck when he purchased over 20 tickets for the drawing. In the weeks leading up to the jackpot, he wrote out numbers from the game (1-69) on a piece of paper and slept with it under his pillow.

 

“I prayed to God to help me,” he said, “My kids are young and I’m not that healthy.”

 

Saephan, who belongs to the Iu-Mienh ethnic group, was born in Laos and has lived in Portland for the past 30 years. He said the prize will allow him and his family to live “worry free” in light of his illness.

 

“I will be able to provide for my family and my health… I’ll find a good doctor for myself,” the New York Post quotes Saephan as saying at a news conference held by the Oregon Lottery.

 

He said that as a cancer patient, he wondered, “How am I going to have time to spend all of this money? How long will I live?”

 

Chao gave Saephan $100 toward the purchase of tickets for the game. After they bought the tickets, Chao sent a photo of them to Saephan and said, “We’re billionaires.”

 

It was a joke before the actual drawing, he said, but the next day it came true. According to Saephan, he called Chao to tell her the life-changing news. After discovering he was holding the winning ticket, he called her to share the news.

 

“I said, ‘Laiza, where are you?’ and she said, ‘I’m going to work,'” said Saephan. “I replied, ‘You don’t have to go anymore.'”

 

The win is by far the biggest prize ever won in Oregon. Previously, the largest Powerball prize won in Oregon was a $340 million jackpot in 2005.

 

“I want to offer my heartfelt congratulations to the Saephans and Ms. Chao on this historic win,” said Oregon Lottery Director Mike Wells. “Not only is the prize life-changing for the three of them and their families, it’s also a huge win for the state.”

 

Approximately a third of sales from Powerball will be returned to state beneficiaries to support economic development, education, veteran services, state parks and more. The retailer that sold the winning ticket, Plaid Pantry, will also receive a $100,000 bonus.

 

In the photo: Cheng “Charlie” Saephan, one of the winners of the $1.3 billion Powerball jackpot (AP / New York Times).