You'll be surprised how these 5 lottery jackpot winners planned to spend their fortune

Here are 5 winners who’ve won some of the biggest payouts in American lotto history, listed by Forbes. These folks nabbed their 15 minutes of fame and the chance to never have to worry about money again.

Here's what they said they planned to do with the money:

1. Merle and Patricia Butler of Red Bud, Illinois and three teachers calling themselves The Three Amigos in Milford Mill, Maryland, as well as an anonymous winner in Ottawa, Kansas, shared the $656 Mega Millions jackpot March 30. That’s $218.6 million each.

Merle and Patricia Butler were the only winners to come forward publicly, and they were coy about how they planned to spend the money, saying only that they’d take the lump sum of $157 million and spend on the advice of their financial planners and attorneys. What savvy folks.

Patricia did tell one media outlet that the couple would “do some real good” with at least part of their money. 

2. Eddie Nabors of Dalton, Georgia, and Elaine and Harold Messner of Woodbine, New Jersey, shared Mega Millions on March 6, 2007: $390 million

Nabors, a 52-year-old truck driver, told the Today Show that he planned to buy a house for his daughter so that she could move out of her mobile home, pay off mortgages for his mom, sister, and other family members, and buy a fishing boat for his son. For himself, he reported fairly low-key plans: “I’m going fishing.”

3. Jim and Carolyn McCullar, of Ephrata, Washington, won Mega Millions on Jan. 4, 2011: $380 million

Jim McCullar told reporters that he planned to put his lottery winnings in the bank, write some checks to his six kids, and donate to charity. ”I’m not going to fly all over the world and buy my own jet,” McCullar said in a press conference. “What this means to me is the legacy is going to go generation after generation after generation.”

4. Holly Lahti, of Rathdrum, Idaho, won Mega Millions on Jan. 4, 2011: $380 million

Lahti, a single mother, reportedly quit her job as a customer service representative at a bank–and then practically went into hiding. But her estranged husband, Josh Lahti, wasn’t shy about sharing his opinion on his wife’s winnings. ”That’s awesome! I won’t have to pay child support!” he told the Associated Press when a reporter informed him of his wife’s good fortune.

Turns out Holly had good reason to hide: reporters did some digging and found out that the couple was never legally divorced, or even separated, giving Josh a potential, if tenuous, legal claim on Holly’s lucky ticket.

5. Eight workers from a ConAgra meatpacking plant in Nebraska, won Powerball on Feb. 18, 2006, and shared the winnings: $365 million

Seven men and one woman, whose jobs it was to process hams and corned beef, split the winnings. Three immediately quit their jobs,the Today Show reported. Others, after learning they were now millionaires, reported straight to work for the graveyard shift. 

Two of the winners were immigrants from Vietnam, one from the Congo. Alain Maboussou, the Congolese immigrant, said he planned to use the money to get a business degree. When the lone female winner was asked if she was married, she responded "No. It’s all mine."

SOURCE: Forbes