TAMPA - One person's blessing is another person's curse.
Most of us dream of winning the lottery; of days spent leisurely on the new boat, or jetting to sun-splashed beaches in southern France. For some, that sudden wealth is a burden; a constant struggle of having to say no to family and friends and yes, take what you want, to the government.
In all the cases, the sudden, life-changing wealth changes them. Whether the change is for the better depends on the person. While some relish never having to worry about how much a car or house costs, others find the newfound wealth too much to handle.
Some have stories about dreams fulfilled, about investments that ensure wealth for generations to come. Others talk about making an effort not to change at all; of continuing to work; of driving the same car, living in the same house.
And others tell of a plague of problems and of sieges of beggars; family, friends and strangers; of lawsuits between relatives and of being dragged to court by the government; and in one case, prison on tax fraud charges.
Many, contacted for this story, just didn't want to talk about it. Here are a few who did:
Jay Vargas
Jay Vargas was only 19 last year when he won $35.3 million in the Powerball jackpot. He lived in South Carolina and worked a no-end-in-sight construction job. At the time, he lived on his own, went to school, worked and paid his own rent, he said. Life was hard.
Then his numbers came in. His life forever changed.
"I was living large, at first," he said. "I partied hardy. When this first happened, I partied like a rock star."
Having to deal with sudden wealth at first was a problem.
"I thought about how I'm going to maintain it," he said. "That was the biggest thing. I had hundreds come up to me looking for money. I had a lot of lost cousins."
He said that for the past year and a half, he has kept track of his own money and kept the partying to a minimum, which isn't so easy when you're 20 years old, with millions in the bank. He took a course in personal finance and so far has been on what appears to be the right track.
"I watch my own money myself," he said, and he has made sure his life slowed down since he came to Tampa.
Now, the young entrepreneur is dabbling in the creation of a reality television show that melds two of his dreams: professional wrestling and beautiful women. He spends all his time promoting the project called "Wrestlicious."
He works on the show out of the New Tampa home he shares with his wife and former model, Shana, and his new baby daughter.
He chose Tampa, he said, because it is home to a lot of professional wrestlers who he wants to get to appear on his show.
"Wrestling is to Tampa," he said, "like NASCAR is to Charlotte." Wrestlers live here and that's who he needs to be part of his show. "If you go out," he said, "you are going to just see a lot of those guys."
He plans on staying in Tampa.
"I love it here," he said. "I plan to stay here for awhile. And I'm still working. But it's just following my dream working, the kind of work that I want to be doing,"
Rhoda Toth
For $13 million Lotto winner Rhoda Toth, who, along with her second husband, Alex, picked the winning Lotto numbers in 1990, the good luck spiraled into full blown misery.
The winnings accelerated a downward trajectory for the Hudson couple, ending in allegations of infidelity, gambling losses, estrangement, death and prison.
The money sparked enough strife within the Toth family to spark a lawsuit pitting mother against daughter.
Now 30, Tifany Diehl, the daughter, lives in Indiana and is largely estranged from Rhoda Toth, her on-again, off-again mother. Only recently has she begun speaking to her and then, only sparingly via e-mail and telephone conversations to the federal lockup that her mother calls home.
"I hurt every day inside not having a mother in my life," Diehl said.
The winnings didn't make a monster out of her mom, but it didn't help, either, Diehl said. Rhoda Toth abandoned her first husband and her two children long before she won the lottery.
"There is a piece of my heart that hates that woman," Diehl said in a recent interview. After she hit the Lotto, Toth tried to woo her children back into her life, but it didn't work.
"She was busy gambling and running with men and living the high life," Diehl said, and within two years of the windfall, the Toths were borrowing money to pay bills.
The Toths found themselves living in a trailer in Pasco County, drawing electricity from a device hooked up to a running car engine. The 25-year marriage, which had been in trouble for years, crumbled amid allegations of infidelity and that was before the Internal Revenue Service came knocking, looking for $1.1 million it says the Toths owed in back taxes.
Alex Toth died in 2008, several months before his trial on tax fraud charges and last year, a federal judge ordered Rhoda Toth to serve two
Most of us dream of winning the lottery; of days spent leisurely on the new boat, or jetting to sun-splashed beaches in southern France. For some, that sudden wealth is a burden; a constant struggle of having to say no to family and friends and yes, take what you want, to the government.
In all the cases, the sudden, life-changing wealth changes them. Whether the change is for the better depends on the person. While some relish never having to worry about how much a car or house costs, others find the newfound wealth too much to handle.
Some have stories about dreams fulfilled, about investments that ensure wealth for generations to come. Others talk about making an effort not to change at all; of continuing to work; of driving the same car, living in the same house.
And others tell of a plague of problems and of sieges of beggars; family, friends and strangers; of lawsuits between relatives and of being dragged to court by the government; and in one case, prison on tax fraud charges.
Many, contacted for this story, just didn't want to talk about it. Here are a few who did:
Jay Vargas
Jay Vargas was only 19 last year when he won $35.3 million in the Powerball jackpot. He lived in South Carolina and worked a no-end-in-sight construction job. At the time, he lived on his own, went to school, worked and paid his own rent, he said. Life was hard.
Then his numbers came in. His life forever changed.
"I was living large, at first," he said. "I partied hardy. When this first happened, I partied like a rock star."
Having to deal with sudden wealth at first was a problem.
"I thought about how I'm going to maintain it," he said. "That was the biggest thing. I had hundreds come up to me looking for money. I had a lot of lost cousins."
He said that for the past year and a half, he has kept track of his own money and kept the partying to a minimum, which isn't so easy when you're 20 years old, with millions in the bank. He took a course in personal finance and so far has been on what appears to be the right track.
"I watch my own money myself," he said, and he has made sure his life slowed down since he came to Tampa.
Now, the young entrepreneur is dabbling in the creation of a reality television show that melds two of his dreams: professional wrestling and beautiful women. He spends all his time promoting the project called "Wrestlicious."
He works on the show out of the New Tampa home he shares with his wife and former model, Shana, and his new baby daughter.
He chose Tampa, he said, because it is home to a lot of professional wrestlers who he wants to get to appear on his show.
"Wrestling is to Tampa," he said, "like NASCAR is to Charlotte." Wrestlers live here and that's who he needs to be part of his show. "If you go out," he said, "you are going to just see a lot of those guys."
He plans on staying in Tampa.
"I love it here," he said. "I plan to stay here for awhile. And I'm still working. But it's just following my dream working, the kind of work that I want to be doing,"
Rhoda Toth
For $13 million Lotto winner Rhoda Toth, who, along with her second husband, Alex, picked the winning Lotto numbers in 1990, the good luck spiraled into full blown misery.
The winnings accelerated a downward trajectory for the Hudson couple, ending in allegations of infidelity, gambling losses, estrangement, death and prison.
The money sparked enough strife within the Toth family to spark a lawsuit pitting mother against daughter.
Now 30, Tifany Diehl, the daughter, lives in Indiana and is largely estranged from Rhoda Toth, her on-again, off-again mother. Only recently has she begun speaking to her and then, only sparingly via e-mail and telephone conversations to the federal lockup that her mother calls home.
"I hurt every day inside not having a mother in my life," Diehl said.
The winnings didn't make a monster out of her mom, but it didn't help, either, Diehl said. Rhoda Toth abandoned her first husband and her two children long before she won the lottery.
"There is a piece of my heart that hates that woman," Diehl said in a recent interview. After she hit the Lotto, Toth tried to woo her children back into her life, but it didn't work.
"She was busy gambling and running with men and living the high life," Diehl said, and within two years of the windfall, the Toths were borrowing money to pay bills.
The Toths found themselves living in a trailer in Pasco County, drawing electricity from a device hooked up to a running car engine. The 25-year marriage, which had been in trouble for years, crumbled amid allegations of infidelity and that was before the Internal Revenue Service came knocking, looking for $1.1 million it says the Toths owed in back taxes.
Alex Toth died in 2008, several months before his trial on tax fraud charges and last year, a federal judge ordered Rhoda Toth to serve two