Timothy Schultz won a huge amount of money while playing the Powerball in 1999 and the content creator has now revealed what he would tell his younger self if he could

A former petrol station worker whose 40p lottery ticket landed him $28million (£22.4m) has opened up about the dark side of his Powerball win — after he became a “walking ATM machine”.

Timothy Schultz, from Iowa, US, said he was fortunate that most of his close friends and family still treated him in the way after his windfall, but this was not the case for everybody.

His comments come during the same month as American lottery company Powerball was introduced in the UK for the first time. It is the largest rolling lottery in the world and the National Lottery operator, Alwyn, has made it available to play for people on this side of the Atlantic.

The latest draw, where UK and US players can both compete, saw the colossal jackpot reach £343million. Winners of the Powerball can claim their staggering prizes over payments across three decades, with tickets costing from £4 per line.

And although it sounds like a dream, Timothy, who was just 21 when he won in 1999, has claimed that there was an unexpected dark side.

He noticed this almost immediately after he started to get “stacks of letters from strangers asking for help”.

This was quite overwhelming, and as reported by UNILAD, he also said: “Lending money could quickly complicate even a close friendship.”

It is not the first time he has revealed this particular downside, and speaking to Fox in 2022, he also said: “Most people were supportive and happy for me, but I did receive stacks of letters from people asking for money.”

He added: “It felt like some people viewed me as a walking, talking ATM machine.”

Unsurprisingly, he struggled to trust people, and was wary of those who may have been trying to become friendly with him for the wrong reasons.

Timothy was also remarkably young when he was awarded the type of money that would mean he would never have to work another day in his life.

Despite that, his first major purchase wasn’t a mansion or a fancy car, it was actually a Nintendo 64, something he would have struggled to afford on his previous low wage.

And rather than set off into the sunset never to be heard of again, Timothy is now a journalist who raises awareness about life-changing lottery wins through his YouTube channel Dreams & Fortune.

There, he has discussions with other lottery winners who he can easily establish a common ground with.

And if there are any UK Powerball players who happen to win big one day, his advice is as follows: “Live within your means.”

As for what he would say to his younger self all these years later, he added: “I’d probably start by saying, ‘Buckle up.’ That dream of winning is about to become reality, and your life is going to change faster than you can possibly imagine.”