In 1992, Wisconsin friends Thomas Cook and Joseph Feeney shook hands and vowed to split any future Powerball jackpot.
Cook, of Elk Mound, kept that 28-year-old agreement when he bought the winning ticket at a gas station in Menomonie in June for a $22 million jackpot.
“It was quite an experience. When I read the first two or three numbers, I kind of froze,” Cook said in a Thursday interview with the Wisconsin Lottery.
He said he was eating breakfast and then handed the ticket to his wife.
“She froze,” he added.
After realizing he had won, Cook phoned his friend.
Feeney, of Menomonie, said he initially thought Cook was joking.
They bought lottery tickets every week but never expected a jackpot, Feeney said.
“That happened many years ago,” Cook said of their promise. “A handshake’s a handshake, man.”
The friends selected the cash option, about $16.7 million, according to a Wisconsin Lottery press release.
After federal and state taxes, Cook and Feeney will each take home roughly $5.7 million.
Cook, who has grandchildren and great-grandchildren, retired after the win.
Feeney had already retired from the fire department.
Neither man plans extravagant purchases.
They said they want to spend more time with family and do some traveling.
“We can pursue what we feel comfortable with,” Cook said. “I can’t think of a better way to retire.”
It was the state’s first Powerball jackpot win since March 2019, when a 24-year-old man won a record-setting $768.4 million.
It marks Wisconsin’s 18th Powerball jackpot since the state launched the game in 1992.
The odds of winning the Powerball jackpot are about 1 in 292 million.
“The power of friendship and a handshake has paid off. I’m thrilled for them — their lucky day has arrived!” — Cindy Polzin
The Menomonie gas station that sold the ticket was awarded $100,000.