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Original poster

Would you go public with a big lottery win?

156 replies

Limeseverywhere · 19/05/2022 13:11

The winners of the £184 million lotto win have gone public, a couple in their 40’s with small children. They say they went public as they want to help so many friends and family and it would have been difficult for them to keep it a secret.
Good luck to them, I say, I hope they have a great adventure on it but I don’t think I would ever want to go public, I would give lots away to family, friends and charities then slink off somewhere away from the hubbub of life.
Would you ever go public like them?

OP posts:
JustLyra · 19/05/2022 15:07

I can understand why they have.

At the moment they go public people are likely to show their true colours - the folks that are likely to sell stories on them will do it while their names are out and the begging & sniping from people they know will begin.

Getting that all over and done with now, while they’re expecting it and high on the cloud of winning must be tempting. Especially if you intend to live the kind of lifestyle that means it’s likely to leak out at some point.

I’d be tempted. I probably wouldn’t, but I’d be tempted to go public. Reveal the sad/tragic childhood id had before some other fucker sold out and keep a relative control of the narrative and timing of things.

You’d need the security anyway because you’d have to take into account it leaking out or people who come into contact with your finances going bent down it wouldn’t change that much.

BigSandyBalls2015 · 19/05/2022 15:10

Nope I wouldn't, that's madness. I don't know how I would conceal it from friends and family though. Surely they'd guess when I bought a beautiful house in Sandbanks and an enormous flat overlooking Hyde Park, plus holiday homes in various exotic locations.

It's an obscene amount of money for one family, think how many people could have been made very happy with lots of smaller wins.

WildNights · 19/05/2022 15:13

JustLyra · 19/05/2022 15:07

I can understand why they have.

At the moment they go public people are likely to show their true colours - the folks that are likely to sell stories on them will do it while their names are out and the begging & sniping from people they know will begin.

Getting that all over and done with now, while they’re expecting it and high on the cloud of winning must be tempting. Especially if you intend to live the kind of lifestyle that means it’s likely to leak out at some point.

I’d be tempted. I probably wouldn’t, but I’d be tempted to go public. Reveal the sad/tragic childhood id had before some other fucker sold out and keep a relative control of the narrative and timing of things.

You’d need the security anyway because you’d have to take into account it leaking out or people who come into contact with your finances going bent down it wouldn’t change that much.

It’s probably a combination of feeling like people will find out so this way they naively feel they have control and also being naive to what is awaiting them, underestimating the affect money has on people.

Problemmo · 19/05/2022 15:23

No way. I’ve heard winners get loads of letters and messages begging them for money and there’s no way I could be arsed with that.

Staryflight445 · 19/05/2022 15:28

No I wouldn’t.
theyre absolutely insane being so public, so dangerous.

also- when they said they’d not spent anything bar buying some bedroom furniture it gave me such rage.
boring buggers.

doitwithlove · 19/05/2022 15:36

No way would I go public.

Butteryflakycrust83 · 19/05/2022 16:22

If I recall, if you choose not to go public they do not offer you any support e.g financial advice, but tbh with 184M you could hire the very best financial advisor.

Sagealicious · 19/05/2022 17:41

This case happened here in Oz in 1960 and is a well known crime. Because of this little boy's murder the names and addresses of lottery winners are no longer published.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Graeme_Thorne

KirkyKerk · 19/05/2022 17:47

They say they went public as they want to help so many friends and family and it would have been difficult for them to keep it a secret.

In that case, tell friends and family directly and don't go straight to the papers. All I thought when I saw them was that they've let themselves in for a world of pain with all the begging letters they're going to get.
No thanks, when I win big I'll be keeping it schtum.

balalake · 19/05/2022 17:58

Not a chance.

the80sweregreat · 19/05/2022 18:07

I'd expect the money men to want my business without charging and come to my home to sort it out too ! 😂
(I know it doesn't work quite like that before anyone flames me)

ContadoraExplorer · 19/05/2022 18:10

I've always thought that if I won that level of money I would keep quiet but a few months down the line pretend I'd won a smaller, although still decent, amount (like £7/8m) which would let me help a few special people. I would tell my immediate family because I trust them not to say anything to anyone. Suppose you don't know until it happens to you though...

JoshLymanIsHotterThanSam · 19/05/2022 18:43

Not a fucking chance, and I’d be schlepping straight out of this country to my new home in Greece. With a holiday pad in Miami. I think other than MIL, FIL and SIL who we would set up with a few mil each…no one would know and I would literally disappear off the face of the planet.

SquatBetty · 19/05/2022 18:45

Not a fucking chance.

Who cares if you don't get any support if you refuse to go public. You can now afford to hire the best solicitors and financial advisors!

Agadoodoododont · 19/05/2022 18:46

Gingerbeerfear · 19/05/2022 13:22

No way. Things are really tough for so many people at the moment. I’d be terrified of my DC being kidnapped or something horrible like that.

This is exactly what I said to my (adult) DD today. They’ve given out a lot of personal info. ( too much)

romdowa · 19/05/2022 18:50

Screw that. Id tell nobody , I wouldn't even tell my family how much I'd won. You'd be hounded forever more with requests for money

Shehasadiamondinthesky · 19/05/2022 18:54

Like fuck I would, I'm not completely mad. Any gifts would be anonymous.

moomintrolls · 19/05/2022 19:00

No way. I'd be doing things for friends then buying my mansion and staff and retreating forever.

HelloSpringIveMissedYou · 19/05/2022 19:06

No way!

FinallyHere · 19/05/2022 19:11

I sincerely hope they don't come to regret going public. I have very well worked through plans to ensure my anonymity while giving away funds, so I don't get those begging letters.

AlternativePerspective · 19/05/2022 19:17

Not a chance.

A friend had a friend who won around £40m, they went public and it ruined their lives.

Begging letters, death threats against their child, the school wouldn’t take the child on school trips because of the threat to other children.

And not receiving support is well a bit of a red herring. I’m sure that if I walked into one of the elite investment banks in London and said that I had £180m I needed to invest they would say “step this way.”

Hawkins001 · 19/05/2022 19:24

Certainly not, it would be just me and the lotto people that would know, otherwise I'd have everyone and their business idea ect. Plus it puts you in the public view, and I prefer to keep a large or small win, classified.

wakeupandshakeup · 19/05/2022 19:25

I'd have already left the country by now with my kids and entered the Bermuda Triangle 😉 leave the stbxh a voice note and lived happily ever after.

Egghead68 · 19/05/2022 19:27

No

Summerbubbles · 19/05/2022 19:31

Absolutely not.
I wouldn't even tell my friends and family. I would tell them I'd won the lottery but let them believe it was a "normal" jackpot, around 5million.