WWYD If You Won $2.04 B ($628M Net)?

Edwin Castro netted $628million of the November 2022 prize, which was the largest ever for the game, $2.04 billion.  Joe's Service Center in Altadena sold the winning ticket and therefore received a set percentage equaling $1million. What has happened since then? Keep in mind Edwin graduated from Woodbury University in Burbank, with a degree in the field of architecture, and as a youth was attained the status of Eagle Scout.

• February 14th, 2023, 3 months after the lottery closed, the identity of the winner was announced.
• The lump sum payout was $997.6 million (48.9% of the original prize touted), but after taxes Edwin netted $628M - 30.7% of the original prize amount! 
• His purchases include vintage cars, two Porsches and four homes
  • March 1, 2023: Bel Air/Hollywood Hills 13,500-square-foot home, seven bedrooms and 11 bathrooms  Palazzo di Vista (palace of views) originally listed at $88M but sold for $25.5M, and which is rumored to be built to replicate the mansion Tonry Stark resides in, from the Marvel "Avengers" movies" 
  • March 9, 2023: Altadena a 4,631 squart-foot home for $4 million mansion, with views of the San Gabriel Mountains, for his parentsd for $3.8million, two-bedrooms, ocean view, which was destroyed in Pacific Palisades wildfires of January 2025.
  • September 2023: $47 million also seven-bedroom, 11-bathroom, compound in Bel Air. (
• A year after the drawing a Dec. 2023 story in "The Post" detailed sources revealed "he is committed to using his millions to do some good and has made significant donations to numerous local charities."

 And then........... Edwin and his business manager, his brother Jesse Castro, began purchasing lots, of homes destroyed in January from the wildfires, in his home town of Altadena. Their company, Black Lion Properties LLC, has purchased $9million worth of lots (12+) , making them the largest purchaser of the 220 lots which have sold to 145 entities.   

Billionaire lottery winner turns investor in fire-ravaged California

These 16 buyers bought multiple parcels in LA County’s burn zones – Orange County Register

Excerpts from a statement a publicist for Black Lion released, talking about the brothers:
“They love and care about the Altadena community and saw an opportunity to invest in it,”  They also hope to help Altadena “retain its character and charm,” 

“Many people who were affected by the fires in Altadena cannot or do not want to rebuild and aspire to move on and start over elsewhere,”  . “These purchases will help some of them, while keeping ownership of the property local.”

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