He's got enough to buy the world, but all this man wants is a burger -- then maybe a car.
James "Jimmy" Groves went from being sued for neglecting credit payments to collecting more than $100 million today as the city's newest mega millions winner.
Decked out in a cream Fidora hat with the shirt to match, the 49-year-old Madison Square Garden worker took home a check for $168 million. Groves opted to take the annuity, so will get $4 million a year over 26 years, adding up to a cool $105 million, after taxes. Not bad. Not bad at all.
Groves, who said he's been playing twice a week for about seven years, bought his winning ticket for the $336 million jackpot at the Fordham Convenience Store in the Bronx; he was one of two winners on Aug. 28, the other was in California. He said the numbers were nothing special -- a quick pick.
Who was the first person he called?
"I called my Mama," said Groves, who added he wants to buy a new home, a nice car and take a much-needed vacation. "She was more than happy -- she was elated."
And what is he going to do with the money?
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"I'm gonna go buy me a hamburger," Groves joked. He also said he would revisit Germany, where he was stationed in the Armed Services, and travel to places he'd never seen.
Asked if he would keep his job, Groves smiled said, "Uhhhh... I can't really tell you that right now."
He said he wore the cream Fidora because it would be appropriate in the Caribbean.
"My only thought was I'll be somewhere in the Bahamas with it," he said. He's certainly got enough cash to head to the islands or anywhere else he wants to think it over.
The $333 million purse was the fourth-largest lottery payout in North American history, Mega Millions reps said.
The largest payout so far has been a $390 million jackpot shared by a New Jersey couple from Cape May County and a truck driver in Georgia in 2007.
