Why hasn't the $1.5 billion Mega Millions winner claimed the prize?

(Fox News) - Three weeks after someone hit the biggest Mega Millions jackpot in history, the winner has still not stepped forward to claim their prize, according to South Carolina lottery officials - and there might be a strategy behind the move.

"I'm actually not surprised at all that it's taking them some time to claim the prize," Michael A. Silver, a financial advisor at Morgan Stanley, said on Wednesday. "You know, I think it's a little ironic. You think you win the lottery for $1.5 billion and you never have to worry about money again. But on the controversy your money worry just went up about 1000 times."

The winning ticket, which was sold in a KC Mart in the South Carolina town of Simpsonville, is worth about $1.5 billion in annual installments over three decades, or an $877 million lump-sum cash package. Winners have 180 days to step forward, or until April 21, according to WLTX, which first reported the news.

If the ticket is not claimed in the allotted time frame, that money automatically returns to the participating states. Each state can use that money for different purposes.

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