The story of Mike Weirsky, who won a $273 million Powerball jackpot just five months after his divorce was finalized, has gone viral again, highlighting the bitter irony that his ex-wife, who supported him for years, was still court-ordered to pay him alimony.
The World’s 16 Luckiest People — A Thread 🧵
1 . A man gets divorced and then wins $273 million in the lottery
A New Jersey man finalized his divorce and just days later won $273 million in the Powerball. His ex-wife lost a husband and $273M 😂pic.twitter.com/ZUONoVuk0f
— Saffron Sniper (@Saffron_Sniper1) August 24, 2025
The story of Mike Weirsky, who won a $273 million Powerball jackpot in 2019 just five months after finalizing his divorce from his wife of 15 years, Eileen Murray, has resurfaced and gone viral on social media. The case is a stark lesson in financial irony, as Murray, the breadwinner during their marriage, had been ordered by a court to pay her ex-husband spousal support for five years—an arrangement that became almost farcical when Weirsky suddenly became a multimillionaire. The timing of the win, at the same QuickChek convenience store where he had proposed to her, added a layer of personal coincidence to the public financial drama.
The story continues to capture public imagination due to the ex-couple’s starkly different reactions, which were captured in interviews at the time. Murray expressed a mix of frustration and well-wishing, noting, “To him, [the alimony] is pocket change at this point… What I’m paying him is a pittance,” while also insisting, “I don’t want anyone to misconstrue that I’m coming after him… I’m happy for him, I really am.” Weirsky, for his part, was decidedly final, stating bluntly, “It’s over with… I just want her to stop being in my life,” cementing the narrative of a life-changing win that permanently severed their ties.