In 1992, friends Thomas Cook (above left) and Joseph Feeney (above right) shook hands and promised that if either of them ever won the Powerball jackpot, the winner would share the winnings with the other. In 2020, when Cook, of Elk Mound, Wisc., purchased the winning ticket for a $22 million jackpot , he kept his promise. After realizing he had won, Cook immediately called his friend Joseph Feeney to share the good news. Feeney thought Cook was joking because the men had been buying lottery tickets every week but never dreamed one of them would actually win. “A handshake is a handshake,” said Cook of their promise. The friends chose the cash payout, walking away with $16.7 million in total and $5.7 million each after taxes. Cook retired from his job after winning, while Feeney had already retired from the fire department. Both said they planned on spending more time with their families and doing a little traveling.
