Mark Cuban has one piece of advice for the R19 billion Powerball winner
· The South African
Billionaire Mark Cuban has a strong opinion on the R19 billion ($1.04 billion) Powerball jackpot in Illinois.
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He’s shared what he thinks the winner should do next.
Cuban’s first move: don’t touch the money yet
Cuban’s advice starts before the winner even claims a cent.
He says to hire a tax attorney first, before making any other decisions about the prize.
The Mark Cuban Powerball advice most winners ignore
His bigger recommendation is the one that raises eyebrows: skip the lump sum entirely and take the annuity instead.
That option pays out over roughly 29 years.
Cuban’s reasoning is blunt.
Winning a jackpot doesn’t make anyone a skilled investor overnight.
A single enormous payout creates a much bigger opportunity to lose it all than a structured, drawn-out payment ever could.
Most winners choose the lump sum anyway, drawn in by the appeal of an enormous amount of cash immediately rather than waiting decades for the full advertised total.
Would South African advisers say the same?
South African Lotto and PowerBall jackpots are typically paid out as lump sums from the start, so our winners don’t face quite the same lump sum versus annuity choice US winners do.
Sizekhaya, the operator running South Africa’s National Lottery since 1 June 2026, structures all payouts this way by default.
This is actually the same jackpot we covered in the R19 billion Powerball winner nobody may ever meet, where anonymity laws mean the world may never learn who’s now facing this very decision.
Still, local financial advisers consistently echo Cuban’s underlying caution: get professional advice before making any big decisions, and resist the urge to start investing or spending immediately.
It”s easy to imagine taking all the money at once, hey, but Cuban’s warning is a solid reminder that patience might actually be the smarter play.
Would you take the lump sum despite Cuban’s warning, or play it safe with a structured payout?
Let us know in the comments below…