A CONSTRUCTION worker who won a $180 million Powerball jackpot and invested it into scientific research has lost millions after a financial advisor mismanaged funds. Paul Rosenau, 70, of Waseca, Minnesota, won $180.1 million from the Powerball jackpot in the spring of 2008.
He and his late wife Sue Rosenau took it as a sign of "divine intervention" after praying for five years for a way to help honor their granddaughter, Makayla. She had died from Krabbe disease, a rare condition that causes damage to the nervous system and is usually fatal. "God said, 'You asked for it, here you go, but don't screw it up,'" the construction supervisor told the Star Tribune .
After taking a $88 million cash payout - which amounted to roughly $60 million after taxes - the couple trusted $26 million of their winnings to John Priebe and Principal Financial Group, a Des Moines-based business. The financial firm mismanaged the funds, causing the Rosenau Family Research Foundation to suffer financially. Last week, Rosenau's foundation won a $7.
3 million arbitration judgment against Principal after it sunk 99% of the charitable business's portfolio in variable non-qualified annuities and eight life insurance policies, according to the Star Tribune. As the foundation was tax-exempt, the annuities' tax benefits didn't help the Rosenau's, but did "generate huge commissions for Priebe and Principal," according to the complaint. Rosenau's foundation sued the financial business and sought to recover $22 m.
