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Comment by zach | Hacker News Reader

Very similar to the structure of the Pepsi billion-dollar prize, I think.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pepsi_Billion_Dollar_Sweepstake...

Most huge cash prizes are annuitized. I went on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (airing Wednesday) knowing that even if I answered every question correctly, I would at best be looking at a cash value of under $800,000. It's just the way it works, and it's always spelled out in the official rules.

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They must have changed the prize distribution procedure for Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. I was on the show in 2000. They gave us a big speech about how if you win a big prize, they will literally cut you a check for that amount and you should talk to a tax advisor before spending anything. One of their early winners got into some tax trouble. I didn't win anything on the show, but they sent me a check for $400 in January to cover my taxes on the plane tickets and hotel.

Ah, the primetime show with Regis. How many times I played their phone game. I went on the syndicated show, where they got rid of the qualifying round and now award everyone $1,000 even if they answer the first question wrong.

However, they do annuitize the million and half-million dollar prizes and don't pay for your travel expenses (but again, everyone leaves with a $1,000 minimum).

Well you make good points, but paying out 62% on the 40th year only seems a bit extreme, it's not quite an annuity is it if the payments aren't fixed to a certain amount?

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