$217million Lottery Winner Gives it All Away to Save the Planet

07:44
16 Apr

A man who won €200million ($217million) on the EuroMillions lottery has finally decided what to do with his windfall – give it all away to save the planet!

The lucky lottery punter in France won his monster jackpot in December 2020, but after taking care of his daughter and other family members, he has decided to fund a new environmental protection foundation with the rest.

“Seeing the happy people around me is the greatest reward. When the money falls from the sky, something must be done with it to help those who are not so lucky,” the man known only as “Guy” told French reporters, adding: “Otherwise, it doesn’t make sense.”

Unlike the majority of lottery winners, “Guy” never entered the lottery with the intention of living a playboy lifestyle if he won.

“My dream has never been to acquire boats, castles or other sports cars, it is to be useful and to give meaning to this money, with maximum positive impact,” he explained.

The retiree from the south of France only ever bought tickets during “important jackpots”, the plan being to make a huge impact should he get lucky.

That 140million-to-1 chance came in and he won what was at the time the biggest jackpot ever seen in France.

The new environmental foundation is named “Anyama”, after a city in the West African country of Ivory Coast to which the jackpot winner has connections.

“The Anyama endowment fund is the result of an imperious desire to act for nature and human beings that I have had for years,” he explained on the foundation’s website. “Above all, it is the expression of a conviction that I want to share with as many people as possible: giving makes people happy, and constitutes a tremendous lever for transforming indignation into concrete and useful actions. So that’s what I’m doing today by creating Anyama, which acts for the benefit of the common good of all, with one watchword: protect the living.” In 2019, a Euromillions lottery-winning couple from the UK gave away half of their £115million jackpot, a list of 50 friends and family first to benefit from £60million of handouts.

Frances Connolly, 54, and her husband Patrick, 56, won the monster prize on New Year’s Day in 2019, and would go on to help local charities and vulnerable people.

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