Lotto winners: The tragic fate of the luckiest people

Everyone who is interested should know how the currently best-known lottery millionaire, Kürsat Yildirim, alias Chico, is doing. After winning, the Dortmund player decided to share his happiness, but also his fate, with the world. Great cars, great houses, nothing but luxury – Chico, it seems, is actually a happy person. And apparently he actually managed to maintain his prosperity in the medium to long term. He has spoken several times about tips on how to achieve this (the star reported). So far his success has proven him right.

However, not everyone got off so lightly. The number of cases in which a large monetary win brought great misfortune is large. There is the example of Adrian and Gillian Bayford. The couple won the equivalent of an incredible 190 million euros – and separated just 15 months later. New partners came and went, everything always revolved around the money. They haven’t gone bankrupt yet, but they’ve had to struggle with pushy supplicants for years and are clearly very afraid of commitment.

Lotto winner David Lee Edwards (the star reported). His problem: drugs. The supposedly endless supply of money and perhaps a certain amount of boredom mean that drugs suddenly become part of everyday life for many newly rich people. This was also the case with the British Callie Rogers, who won the equivalent of 2.25 million euros at the age of 16. In addition to high expenses for operations and luxury goods, she is said to have spent over 300,000 euros just on cocaine. There is nothing left of her financial wealth today, but she has apparently been able to pull herself together, is working again and wants to teach her children the value of money.

Then there is envy. Because sudden wealth is not always received favorably by friends and family. The American William Post experienced this in extreme form. He won the equivalent of around 16 million euros, squandered his money as much as he could and quickly ran up debts. But that’s not all: As various media outlets, including “”, report, his own brother is said to have hired a contract killer to kill him – in the hope of a lavish inheritance. The attempt failed and the brother was arrested. Post died in 2006, leaving behind a mountain of debt.

The misfortune with the lottery game can also begin before the transfer is made. For example in the case of Martyn Tott. As “” wrote at the time, Tott and his wife only found out about their luck six months after the drawing. But by then they had long ago misplaced the lot. Somehow they managed to provide proof of purchase of the ticket, but the lottery company coolly pointed out the 30-day deadline for reporting lost tickets and didn’t pay.

The hunt for the money, which was so close at hand, gave Tott no peace. His marriage broke up and it took him about ten years to be able to lead a normal life again. Today he says: “We couldn’t withstand the pressure. Kay wanted to carry on, but I couldn’t. I immersed myself in the fight for our money.”