Lottery winner wears bear suit to collect winnings
A Chinese man from the Shanxi province recently won a jackpot around close to $85 million, the third largest ever won in China. But when the man went to collect his winnings in Taiyuan, he wore a full on bear suit to maintain his anonymity.
The video above depicts the lucky winner answering questions from the press while humorously wearing his bear suit. The winner indicates that he will donate a significant portion of his winnings to charity as well.
It definitely seems like a wacky stunt, but this Chinese lottery winner is wise to protect his identity. Jackpot winners can see themselves inundated by financial requests from family and friends, and many con artists have utilized public media events like these to target someone with newfound wealth. Winning the lottery has proven to be a drastically bad omen for some, with jackpot recipients blowing their money on drugs, being charged for murder, and tragically committing suicide.
In the U.S., there are only five states which allow winners to collect a lottery prize while keeping their name off of public records: Delaware, Kansas, Maryland, North Dakota, and Ohio. The largest lottery jackpot in history was the $656 Mega Millions prize won in March 2012 by three different recipients. One of that prize's recipients was a Kansas native, and chose to remain anonymous.
