Clock will be ticking for winner of unusual lottery auction

PORTAGE, MI (AP) – An unusual auction in Michigan will turn the top bidder into an instant lottery winner.

A bankruptcy trustee is auctioning a lottery prize that pays $1,000 a month, before taxes. But there’s a hitch: The money is paid only for as long as a 73-year-old man stays alive.

Donald Magett of Portage won the “Cash for Life” game in 1984. The winnings lately have been going to bankruptcy trustee Tom Richardson to pay Magett’s debts. It’s the main asset.

By mid-afternoon Thursday, the lottery prize had only one bid at the minimum $30,000.  By the time it ended tonight, the winning bid was $40,026.

At that price, Magett would need to live a few more years for the winner to at least break even.