7 People Who Became Millionaires Overnight

Becoming a millionaire overnight isn’t a common happenstance. Usually, accumulating wealth takes time and a great deal of work. That said, every once in a while, someone has luck working in their favor, and they become millionaires literally overnight. From winning the lottery to making the right investments at the right time, these seven people joined this small but impressive list.

1. Kevin Lewis

Kevin Lewis enjoyed a sudden million-dollar windfall when his name was called at the Horseshoe Casino Cincinnati in a 2013 promotional event. He was handed a large check, but it turned out he was the wrong Kevin Lewis. The Kevin Lewis who had won the promotional draw hadn’t been in the building when the prize was handed out.

It turned out that the two Kevins had much in common, not just sharing the same name. They were close in age, from Cincinnati, and both regulars at the casino. The casino ended up giving both Kevins a million dollars, creating not one but two overnight millionaires. While playing at online casinos through casinos.com is convenient and fun, stories like this make us want to visit land-based casinos more often.

2. Jack Whittaker

The United States has many stories of lottery winners who suddenly became multimillionaires because they bought a winning ticket at the right place and time. This was the case for Jack Whittaker in 2002, when he won a $314 million Powerball jackpot. Before winning, Whittaker was a construction worker, and the sudden wealth completely altered his lifestyle. Unfortunately, it wasn’t for the better.

Like many lottery winners, Whittaker wound up with far less than he started with, and not just when it came to his finances. After spending his winnings on donations and family and falling victim to scammers, Whittaker experienced heartbreak and turmoil. His wife left him, and he lost his daughter to cancer and his 17-year-old granddaughter to drugs. He passed away in 2020 at 72 and reportedly wished he had torn up the winning ticket.

3. Oscar and Lorene Stohler

In 2008, retired couple Oscar and Lorene Stohler suddenly found themselves sitting on millions. It turns out their North Dakota property contained an oil reserve. The couple didn’t change their lifestyle drastically, with Mr. Stohler saying, “We still know what tough times are... We grew up in the Dirty ‘30s.”; They continued using their old pickup truck and belongings, though they did make a few splashy purchases. Stohler bought a $1,000 ring for his wife for their 60th wedding anniversary, and they purchased an automatic sprinkler system for their garden. They set up trusts for their four children and could live out the rest of their retirement knowing they had a comfortable financial cushion should they ever need it.

4. Erik Finman

When it comes to cryptocurrencies, few are known better than Bitcoin, the first cryptocurrency and one that has been incredibly noteworthy for its significant swings in value. The cryptocurrency fascinates many, including adolescents like Erik Finman. In 2011, when he was just 12 years old, Finman’s interest in crypto prompted him to invest the $1,000 his grandmother had given him in Bitcoin. By the time he was 17, he was a millionaire.

Making a million dollars overnight would be a huge deal for any teenager, but for Finman, it also came with some other perks. He had dropped out of high school, where he struggled with its environment, and made a deal with his parents that if he made a million dollars by the time he turned 18, he wouldn’t have to return to school. After leaving school, he started an education company that connected teachers with students worldwide via video chat. It was work that helped right his negative school experiences. He sold the business for 300 bitcoins, significantly adding to his initial investment.

5. Tommy and James

Brothers Tommy and James, who kept their last names anonymous, woke up on April 17, 2021, to find they had become millionaires overnight. The two had invested in a lesser-known cryptocurrency called Shiba Inu. A friend mentioned that it was a potentially big-earning coin, so they decided to take a chance on it. The brothers figured if Bitcoin could go from fractions of a penny to thousands of dollars, it could also happen with the Shiba Inu currency. They started with an investment of $200 in February of 2021, and as this investment grew, they added more. By April, they achieved what many crypto-investors dream of: becoming millionaires.

6. Arzel Rodriguez

In early 2021, GameStop stock began skyrocketing, making Arzel Rodriguez an overnight millionaire. He had been watching the price of GameStop incredibly closely, as he had invested $28,000 in it. He’d heard through Reddit that the company was worth investing in and had many sleepless nights waiting for the perfect moment to sell. The investment paid off significantly; it grew to $3.8 million. Rodriguez, at 23, joined the ranks of millionaires by engaging in speculative investing, which most advisors discourage. He made a high-risk investment, hoping for a quick return, and it worked out for him.

7. Kevin Sanzone

Another overnight GameStop millionaire is Kevin Sanzone, who, like Rodriguez, came across the same advice on Reddit. His investment was far more substantial—$140,000. The stress of having this much riding on a single investment caused Sanzone severe anxiety and sleepless nights. He became fixated on the investment. That all changed one day when the GameStop numbers started rising rapidly. On the day the price reached $300, Sanzone sold his shares and suddenly found himself a multimillionaire—an impressive return on investment for a single day’s decision.