William Post

William "Bud" Post III (April 5, 1939 – January 15, 2006) was the winner of a Pennsylvania Lottery jackpot worth $16.2 million, in 1988. Shortly afterward his brother tried to have him murdered for the inheritance. Post survived, and was successfully sued by an ex-girlfriend for a share of the winnings. By the end of his life, Post was $1 million in debt.

Early life Post was born in Erie, Pennsylvania. His mother died when he was 8 years old and his father sent him to an orphanage soon after. Post worked in various temporary jobs such as in cooking, truck driving for traveling carnivals and circuses, and painting before winning the lottery. He served 28 days in jail for issuing invalid checks. On the day he won the jackpot, he had just $2.46 in his bank account.

Lottery jackpot Post bought one of the winning tickets of the Pennsylvania Lottery in 1988, worth $16.2 million. The total jackpot was more than $32 million, the second highest total in state history; the other half went to a group of 16 employees of the Westinghouse Electric Bettis Atomic Power Laboratory in Pittsburgh. In the two weeks after Post collected the first of his 26 annual payments of $497,953.47, he spent more than $300,000 on gifts and investments such as a liquor license, a lease for a restaurant in Florida, a used-car lot, and a twin-engine airplane (despite lacking a pilot's license). In just three months' time, his debts totaled $500,000; the next year, he bought a mansion in Oil City, Pennsylvania, for $395,000. The attempt did not succeed, and Post's brother was arrested.

Post died of respiratory failure on January 15, 2006, at age 66.