Winning It Big

Most people have dreamed of winning the lottery. It’s a dream that has become ever more common around the world as jackpots get bigger and lotteries more numerous. But does money really make us happy, and how much does this depend on where we live and how we spend it?
To find out, the BBC’s Mike Thomson meets lottery winners from around the globe. Mike dines with Arab/Israeli restaurateur, Jawdat Ibrahim, who spends much of his $23 million windfall on trying to bring Palestinians and Israelis closer together, through good food and dialogue.

Mike tours rural Idaho with American businessman Brad Duke, who is determined to put his mountain of money to work. Brad won’t be happy, he insists, until he has trebled his $220 million winnings.

Mike goes nightclubbing with the self-declared ‘Mark Zuckerberg’ of Ghana, a man with a very different plan. The young pop video producer likes to flash his cash and seems determined to spend his way to happiness. Mike also meets Canada’s Rebecca Lapierre, who spurned a big lump sum in favour of $1000 a week for life. The former Miss Quebec has dedicated her winnings to helping the poor. True joy, she tells Mike, lies in giving rather than getting. So, what can we learn from these lottery winners, and are they any happier than the rest of us?

This documentary will air as part of Money & Power - a major new season of programmes and features across the BBC’s global TV, radio and online networks exploring how the basic building blocks of our lives are being shaped and reshaped by money.

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