A group of Australian miners won a $40 million lottery and their manager was 'ecstatic' for them but also worried he'd lose his workers.
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The manager of 20 miners from Kalgoorlie-Boulder couldn’t believe it when they told him they had won a massive $36 million lottery jackpot.
In October 2022, the $110 million (AU $75 million) Powerball jackpot was split between three winners, one of which was this group of 20 miners based in Gold Fields, Australia.
ABC News reported that the 20 workers, who were on the night shift, took home a total of $36.44 million (AU $53 million).
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When divided up, this meant each miner pocketed around $1.822 million (AU $2.6 million).
One of the first things the group did when they realized their luck was call their manager. Unfortunately for him, he wasn’t part of the lottery pool.
Talk about bad luck!
The group of workers were miners in the Kalgoorie-Boulder in Western Australia
Getty IMages/ Delectus
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When they called their manager, Chris Wood, to share the news, he didn’t believe them at first.
He told ABC: "It's impossible, I don't believe you, you are joking."
However, while he was 'ecstatic' and 'very happy for each of them', he jokingly added that he was a little worried about 'losing them' now that they no longer needed to work.
He even said he would 'run after them and steal their ticket if they [didn't] come back' to work.
"They're great workers," he added. "It is my best shift. They are all from here."
While it hasn’t been reported whether the miners returned to work after their big win, another group of miners who won a large lottery payout shared what they did after winning.
Would you go back to work if you won the lottery?
Getty Stock Images/ Catherine McQueen
Kylie Owen, part of a group of 250 people who won $43 million, said the win was 'amazing' and 'electric'.
Even though the win 'changed the entire town' and created a huge buzz, it didn’t lead to a major shift in the workplace.
Kylie, who owns a business, decided to 'not change' anything and continued going to work every day despite the new fortune.
Similarly, a man who won $50 million in the Lotto Max jackpot got up at 4:30 a.m. the following week to continue working as a driver and head of shipping at a catering company, because he didn’t want to let his coworkers down.
So maybe in the end, the manager didn’t need to worry after all!