Broke dad went to return an orange juice to the store — he came back $315 million richer
Life throws us surprises when we least expect it and that's exactly what happened with a New Jersey man, Tayeb Souami. When Souami’s wife asked him to take a carton of orange juice back to the store to return it, he likely saw it as a minor inconvenience. Unbeknownst to him, May 19, 2018, was going to be the most monumental day of his life. What was a modest effort at money-saving led Souami to an incredible lottery win of $315 million.
Souami, a father of two, was employed as an accountant for a food importer and was facing financial difficulties at the time. That is why when Souami bought $5 bottles of orange juice, his wife asked him to return them having found out the same item was on sale for $2.50 elsewhere. As instructed, Souami went back to the store to get a refund. While waiting at the counter, something caught his attention—a sign for the Powerball jackpot. Without a second thought, he used the refunded money to buy two lottery tickets. With a single impulsive choice, he rewrote his entire future, as reported by Indy 100.
The following day, the lottery tickets were the last thing on Souami’s mind. It wasn’t until he pulled into a 7-Eleven for a quick stop at a car wash that it even dawned on him to check if they were worth anything. He said, "When I went inside, I scanned the first ticket. It wasn't the winner and the second ticket was good. That day, it said, 'Must be seen by the retailer.'" He initially thought the machine wasn't working, but then the woman behind the counter checked. She allegedly uttered, "Oh my God! Oh my God!" She then told him he had won very big. That’s when he found out he had won the $315 million Powerball jackpot.
Souami said, "I'm an accountant. I like to see the numbers. I know how to read the numbers, but I was scared to see the numbers." He was in complete shock, so much so that it took him two hours to get home. When he finally arrived, his wife asked why he was so late. Overwhelmed, he began to cry and handed her the lottery ticket, and she could hardly believe it. "It was a very emotional day for me," the man expressed. As expected, Souami quit his job but explained it was because he was working every day and not just because he won the jackpot. Souami revealed that he planned on using the amount to pay for his children's education.
Though he didn’t express any desire to spend on lavish things for himself or his wife, Souami joked that he'd be stocking up on more orange juice, as reported by Good Morning America. The happy news prompted a flurry of reactions on social media. On YouTube, a person (@MaxineAGGuess), noted, "He is so humble, so kindhearted and so deserving of this win. God bless him always! I love seeing good people like him win money like this. Enjoy!” Another netizen (@venise32), echoed, “I rejoice in this man's prosperity, I wish him greater and greater wealth.”