State officials announced Wednesday that the winner of a $1.35 billion Mega Millions jackpot, the fourth largest in U.S. history, has come forward to claim the award.

The winner has been and continues to be unknown.

The Maine State Lottery reported that the winner elected to stay anonymous and collect the cash option via a limited liability business, LaKoma Island Investments LLC, rather than receive the entire amount in installments.

“The winner is attentively evaluating the best ways to use the life-altering gift,” according to a representative’s statement.

The winner will get a one-time, lump-sum payout of $723,564,144 before taxes if they choose the cash option, according to officials.

According to lottery authorities, the winner had the choice of claiming the prize in person or remaining anonymous through a trust.

On Friday, a representative confirmed the winning ticket at the lottery headquarters in Augusta, and the money will be transmitted to the winner by the end of the week.

“I understand why someone with this amount of money would wish to stay nameless. We wish them the best and hope they make good use of it,” he said.

The Hometown Gas & Grill in Lebanon, which is close to the New Hampshire border on a main road in a small town, sold the winning ticket for the drawing on January 13.

Fred Cotreau, the proprietor, stated he had no knowledge of which held the winning ticket.

“We will wait to determine if it is a local. Who can say? “Sometimes people come in and say thank you, but I don’t lose any sleep over it,” said Cotreau, who split the store’s $50,000 profit from selling the winning ticket with his employees.

Boardman stated that if the winner had opted to accept the entire money, there would have been 30 installments over 29 years.

After taxes, the winner will receive more than $498 million by accepting the cash award, according to Boardman. The federal government will receive $173,6 million in taxes, and the state government will receive $51 million, he said. According to him, the limited liability firm that will receive the funds was formed in Las Vegas.

The winner defeated 1 in 302,6 million odds in a drawing held on Friday the 13th. It was the first Mega Millions jackpot winner from Maine. The game is played in 45 states, the District of Columbia, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.