Mega Millions: What Would You Buy First?

The jackpot for Friday night’s Mega Millions drawing is a record $1 billion. It’s the the second largest prize ever. If a single person wins and picks the lump sum, he or she will walk away with $565 million in cash. After Uncle Sam takes his share, the winner would be left with roughly $430 million. So what could you buy with nearly half a billion bucks?

How about the fastest car in the world for you and all your friends? You could afford to buy 74 Bugatti Divo hyper-cars and still have money for gas and speeding tickets. You could invest in higher education, by paying to send 1,590 college students to Harvard University. Or spend a while in America’s most expensive hotel: a penthouse at The Mark in Manhattan costs $75,000 a night. So you could stay there for roughly 15 years.