By Isabelle Wilson-
A man who scooped $2Bn (£577m) in a record-breaking lottery jackpot reportedly has sparked controversy after expressing an interest in purchasing swathes of damaged properties in the community ravaged by wildfires.
Edwin Castro, who landed an astonishing $2billion (£1.51bn) in the US Powerball lottery, is reportedly one of several mega-wealthy people eyeing up fire-damaged property impacted by the catastrophic Californian wildfires in January.
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Castro, an architecture consultant, whose father worked in construction, has bought up 15 lots (plots of land) in Altadena to the tune of $10m (about £7,500,000).
Castro’s hometown of Altadena, which is a 20-minute drive from Los Angeles, was severely impacted by the disaster, which killed at least 31 people and laid waste to a staggering 57,000 acres as fires ripped their way through local neighbourhoods.
Castro, 33, purchased the winning Powerball ticket at a gas station in Altadena, Calif. Now, he’s buying millions of dollars’ worth of property to help benefit those who lost their homes in the Eaton Fire in January.
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“This is for a family that wants to move in,” Castro told The Wall Street Journal of one of the plots of land he purchased in the neighbourhood. “Those are the people that need to be looked out for right now.”
The Eaton Fire coincided with the Palisades Fire, leaving at least 31 people dead while destroying over 16,000 structures as it burned in January 2025, according to the outlet. While outside investors have seized opportunities to purchase fire-charred land and develop it, Castro says he is purchasing land to give back to the community.
Castro hasn’t dismissed the idea of further structures away from his planned family homes, claiming that he will flog his finished properties at market value and that “egregious” margins aren’t required.
However, there seems to be growing pressure, as a petition aimed at stopping the investors has generated nearly 1,500 signatures over concerns about a “second wave of disaster”, one that organisers believe could alter the area’s appearance and render it unaffordable for locals.
Castro told the Wall Street Journal he intends to keep the “whimsical” element of the neighbourhood, and intends to sell to families looking to settle down in the area rather than people interested in renting out the properties. Castro is an architecture consultant who once lived in Altadena himself.
“I want it to feel like the old neighbourhood,” he said. “Like if you put all those houses pre-fire in a time bubble.”
Mega Millions Jackpot
Meanwhile, the Mega Millions jackpot has grown to $600 million, making it the ninth-largest in the game’s history. No ticket matched all the winning numbers in the previous drawing for $575 million.
The last Mega Millions jackpot was won on June 27, 2025, for a $348 million prize.
Drawings for the Mega Millions are held every Tuesday and Friday at 11 p.m. ET.
The lottery frenzy is spiking, as the Mega Millions grand prize is growing quickly and now sits at well over half a billion and has grown to the ninth-largest Mega Millions jackpot of all time.
Some players are hoping a $5 Mega Millions ticket will make them a multimillionaire. Because as they say in the lottery business, “it could happen to you.”
After no one matched all five numbers plus the Mega Ball in the Friday, Oct. 10, Mega Millions drawing for $575 million, the jackpot jumped to $600 million with a cash option of $277.2 million for the drawing on Tuesday, Oct. 10.
The winning numbers for the Mega Millions drawing on Tuesday, Oct. 14, were 12-22-49-57-58 and the Mega Ball was 19. Those number produced another rollover.
The Mega Millions jackpot for Friday now climbs to $625 million, with a cash option of $288.8 million.
There were two big winners in Tuesday’s Mega Millions drawing. A ticket purchased in Texas and another in Arizona matched 5 plus the 2X Multiplier for $2 million prizes.
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