What Would You Do If You Won the $1.5 Billion Lottery?

[Bunty]

I like admiring skyscrapers, so I would have to make arrangements to build a tower. I would offer it as a headquarters for a bank or insurance company or whatever. The top floor would be a restaurant. The kitchen would entirely be in the middle, so that every table could come with a view. The floor under the restaurant would be the penthouse where I would live. I would eat many a meal a the restaurant.

The tower would be at least 21 stories, or as much as 41+ stories max. It would have to be someplace where it would really stand out. So downtown Oklahoma City and Tulsa wouldn't be suitable. More like downtown Stillwater. So above the restaurant to top the tower off would be a cool pyramid, frequently lit up in orange. It would also perform as a cool place for me to go lie under to soak up the powers of the pyramid.

[Plutonic Panda]

First order of business, I'd donate $280 million dollars to build a 6 stack at the Kilpatrick and hefner Parkway. I'd build off and on ramps leading to nowhere if I had to.

[OKCisOK4me]

I'd leave Oklahoma, lol...

[stile99]

My first order of business is to remind myself I do NOT have 1.5 billion dollars. Unky Sam wants his cut. After that I would set up a series of annuities to provide for certain friends and family. They would live comfortably, but they wouldn't be getting $1000/day either. Then and only then would I start with the crazy plans, and even then they wouldn't be that crazy. Do some travel, design a house to my specifications (why is there never an outlet where you need one, and when you find one is there's only TWO ports?), maybe have 2-3 in different locations so when weather acts up in one, I'll be at another.

This (in my opinion) explains why people who win big jackpots go broke soon after. First of all, mark my words, noone is going to win the 1.5 billion (which we already said won't be 1.5 billion). No *ONE*. There will be at least three winning tickets, at least one of which is from an office pool of multiple people. However, these people will each get the mindset that they won 1.5 billion and will go wild, and will quickly learn that when you have (for example) $10,000 to spend, but then spend $5,000 here and $5,000 there and $5,000 on this and $5,000 on that, you are now $10,000 in the hole.

[Urbanized]

The first thing I would do is go to my bank and put my ticket into my safe deposit box.

The second thing I would do go see an attorney I know who specializes in corporate and contract law, and ask him to tell me what my third thing should be.

[AP]

^Ditto

[FighttheGoodFight]

I'd buy OKCtalk.net and only have one section. Politics.

[Roger S]

I'd probably get up and go to work.... just so I could see the looks on peoples faces when I quit to open a BBQ joint.

[FighttheGoodFight]

I'd probably get up and go to work.... just so I could see the looks on peoples faces when I quit to open a BBQ joint.

I would go to your restaurant. Only if you stay anonymous though.

[Roger S]

I would go to your restaurant. Only if you stay anonymous though.

Well being very much an introvert and liking my smokers more than I like people... I'd probably stay in the back with my smokers....lol

It would be a very interesting concept though.... There would be no cooking for the masses at my place.... Small batch, hand crafted, Q would be the only thing on the menu and if a piece of meat didn't meet up to my standards..... Well I'd donate it to a homeless shelter.... Not going to just trash it. ;+)

[AP]

I'd probably get into property development.

[Filthy]

If I won the lottery, I would not want to win one of these HUGE ones. I think I would much rather win something smaller like $6-$8 million rather than $100 million plus. With smaller winnings, I would still need to be financially responsible and really put a lot of thought in how to stretch/grow my money. I could provide a little better life for my family, but yet still have the internal flame going inside me reminding me that I need to be smart with my money...or risk running out of it in a few years.

If my winnings were in excess of 100 Million, I'm pretty certain my life expectancy drops to about zero real quick. I know my marriage would be wrecked, and I cant imagine my body being able to handle the mountains of cocaine and hookers, and the weekend rendezvous in Dubai, Paris or London. I just don't think I would have the intestinal fortitude to be responsible in any way shape or form.

[FighttheGoodFight]

If I won the lottery, I would not want to win one of these HUGE ones. I think I would much rather win something smaller like $6-$8 million rather than $100 million plus. With smaller winnings, I would still need to be financially responsible and really put a lot of thought in how to stretch/grow my money. I could provide a little better life for my family, but yet still have the internal flame going inside me reminding me that I need to be smart with my money...or risk running out of it in a few years.

If my winnings were in excess of 100 Million, I'm pretty certain my life expectancy drops to about zero real quick. I know my marriage would be wrecked, and I cant imagine my body being able to handle the mountains of cocaine and hookers, and the weekend rendezvous in Dubai, Paris or London. I just don't think I would have the intestinal fortitude to be responsible in any way shape or form.

I love that this post got stranger and stranger as it went on. Well done

[TU 'cane]

Build matching 50 story towers in both Tulsa and OKC. And they can be known around the state as "The Two Towers."

No not really. I haven't thought about this personally, but I came for the comments...

[Thomas Vu]

If I won the lottery, I would not want to win one of these HUGE ones. I think I would much rather win something smaller like $6-$8 million rather than $100 million plus. With smaller winnings, I would still need to be financially responsible and really put a lot of thought in how to stretch/grow my money. I could provide a little better life for my family, but yet still have the internal flame going inside me reminding me that I need to be smart with my money...or risk running out of it in a few years.

If my winnings were in excess of 100 Million, I'm pretty certain my life expectancy drops to about zero real quick. I know my marriage would be wrecked, and I cant imagine my body being able to handle the mountains of cocaine and hookers, and the weekend rendezvous in Dubai, Paris or London. I just don't think I would have the intestinal fortitude to be responsible in any way shape or form.

I'm glad somebody said cocaine and hookers

[gopokes88]

Buy a chunk of the thunder.
Get to know Rainey Williams.

[Bunty]

[bchris02]

Considering after taxes, I would "only" get $500 million or so, that's still more than I would probably spend in a lifetime.

I would pay off all of my debt, move to a coastal city of my choice (Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, Philadelphia, NYC, or Boston), and live my life. I wouldn't live super extravagantly.

I might help finance some developments I would like to see in OKC, especially in Uptown and/or the Paseo. For instance, I would like to buy Samir's convenience store in the Paseo and redevelop it into a mixed-use development with a full grocery store and housing.

[gopokes88]

But really I'd invest most of it. Buy a lot of stock in companies with high yielding dividends like AT&T, Verizon, any major oil company. Get a 4% return which is $20,000,000 a year and the tax rate is a mere 10% on that. (dividends could be taxed higher after a while, I dk though haven't made that much off of them.) Take my 18,000,000 a year reinvest, give to charity, buy lots of land, spend lots of time bumming around Europe, buy a winery,

[MadMonk]

1). Sign the back of the ticket.
2). Contact an attorney about how to collect anonymously and next steps.

[Stew]

I'd take it to Vegas and double it. Then I'd probably get that monster Asus router I've been wanting. After that eh I'd play it by ear.

[Martin]

there is only one reasonable thing to build with that kind of money:

[trousers]

Hang out with Filthy.

[OkiePoke]

I would buy a few congressmen and senators.

[Filthy]

I'm glad somebody said cocaine and hookers

I know its so cliché, but probably a pretty accurate assumption.

And to be honest, using the term "hookers" probably isn't fair..as its such a derogatory term. As, I'm not talking about rounding up a bunch of "trafficked/troubled" young run away type girls that frequent S. Robinson. I was more or less thinking "groupies" so to speak. A whole boat load of beautiful young women, whether they be bikini models or stay at home moms, or the one chick that always wears the polka dotted yoga pants at my gym. Just your everyday, average wholesome Hot chicks. But knowing that for a large group of gorgeous women to hang out with me all at the same time, and allow me to do some of the things that I would want to do to them................it would require copious amounts of cash.

As far as the coke...yea, pretty self explanatory.


But as mentioned many times in this thread...the ONLY way, I would ever claim my lottery winnings, was if I could do so anonymously. I'm not sure what the stated laws are here in Oklahoma...but, I wouldn't want anyone knowing that it was me that won. Even If I had to concoct some grand scheme to hire a homeless person to claim the winnings as their own, and draw up some cockamamie contract ensuring that they couldn't run off with my monies, and live out my dream with said hookers and blow.