In May 2018, a mundane grocery errand in New Jersey turned into a life-altering event for a 56-year-old accountant named Tayeb Souami. He stood at the customer service counter of a local supermarket, waiting to process a refund for a single item he had purchased moments earlier.
He was there to save a few dollars on a beverage, but that small financial decision placed him in the exact path of a $315.3 million windfall. The decision to pinch pennies on breakfast drink unexpectedly resulted in one of the largest lottery wins in the state’s history.
The Five-Dollar Mistake
The sequence of events began when Souami visited the ShopRite in Hackensack, New Jersey. Among his groceries, he purchased a bottle of orange juice for $5.00. Upon returning to his home in Little Ferry, he showed the receipt to his wife.
She noted that the price was too high, pointing out that the same juice was on sale for $2.50 at a competitor’s store, Market Basket. Driven by the desire to correct the overpayment, Souami drove back to the ShopRite to return the bottle. He approached the service desk and successfully refunded the item, retrieving his five dollars.
An Impulse at the Counter
With the cash refund in his pocket, Souami turned to leave, but something caught his eye. Behind the service counter, an advertisement displayed the current Powerball jackpot, which had swelled to over $300 million.
Souami, who only played the lottery occasionally, decided to use the money he had just recouped from the orange juice to buy two tickets. He selected the numbers seemingly at random and left the store, placing the tickets aside and continuing with his week. He did not watch the drawing that occurred later that weekend.
The Scanner Says Big Winner
The following day, Souami walked into a 7-Eleven on his way to a car wash to check his tickets. He scanned the first one, which was not a winner. When he scanned the second ticket, the machine displayed a message he had never seen before: “See Retailer.”
Confused, he handed the ticket to the clerk, who ran it through the system. The clerk’s reaction was immediate. The machine confirmed that Souami held the sole winning ticket for the $315.3 million jackpot. His hands began to shake uncontrollably. He gripped the counter to steady himself, overwhelmed by the sudden shift in his reality.
Retiring with the Cash
Souami kept his composure long enough to get home. He initially did not tell his wife, instead asking her to sit down before he revealed the slip of paper. He chose the cash option, which amounted to $183 million before taxes.
At a press conference held at the New Jersey Lottery headquarters, Souami announced that he was quitting his job as a food importer and accountant. He planned to pay off his mortgage and fund his daughter’s college education. He told reporters that while he loved orange juice, he was grateful he returned that specific bottle.
Tayeb Souami went to a New Jersey grocery store to save $2.50, but he walked out with a fortune.
In 2018, the accountant returned a bottle of overpriced orange juice.
That tiny financial decision placed him in the exact spot to buy a ticket worth $315 million…🧵👇 pic.twitter.com/FSvzbV0MGR
— Fascinating True Stories (@FascinatingTrue) January 31, 2026