13 Starbucks Workers to Share $87 Million
Oct. 25 -- Thirteen lucky Starbucks employees are California’s newest millionaires.
All 13 employees at a Los Angeles Starbucks coffee house will share an $87 million lottery jackpot won over the weekend
Store manager Mary Champaine, a 53-year-old widow whose husband died of cancer a year ago, had collected $1 each from the employees Saturday.
“I said let’s get some tickets and we just might win,” Champaine told ABC’s Good Morning America.
For those employees not at work, she reached into her purse and made sure she found enough money to include everybody.
“A Starbucks motto — one team, one purpose — that’s what I wanted. I wanted everybody to share in it,” Champaine said.
They hit all six numbers and will split one of California’s biggest lotto jackpots in years. The money will be distributed in 26 annual payments. Each employee will receive about $4.8 million after taxes.
Open for Business
Despite winning the enormous jackpot, all Starbucks workers showed up for work.
“When we won, I couldn’t shut the doors, because my customers were still coming,” Champaine said.
She knows that while all of the 13 employees are showing up for work now, the store will likely lose some workers eventually.
“I’ll probably lose some, but right now, they’re going to stay with me. They haven’t got the money yet. They’re young and I want to make sure they’ll be OK. So they’ll [work to] get a check until they get the big check,” Champaine said.
Champaine says she has no immediate plans to quit.
Disbelief
Champaine said some of her co-workers did not believe her when she told them they had hit the jackpot.
“I must have called a couple of them twice because they kept thinking I was teasing, and it was for real.”
Employee Moisha Oliver said she got a call Monday night from Champaine to let her know they had won. She didn’t believe it.
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