Publishers Clearing House Winners Get a Rude Awakening

After decades of giant checks, Publishers Clearing House has filed for bankruptcy—and abruptly ended lifetime payouts for its "forever" sweepstakes winners. ARB Interactive, a Miami-based mobile gaming firm that recently acquired PCH's assets, announced it will not be responsible for payouts to winners who claimed their prizes before July 15, per CNN. "This feels like a nightmare," says John Wyllie, 61, of Washington, a 2012 winner who was expecting $5,000 a week for life, per KGW. He only found out PCH was in trouble when his $260,000 annual check failed to arrive in January. Now, he's selling his possessions and job hunting after a decade out of the workforce.

PCH, which began in 1953 selling magazine subscriptions from a Long Island basement, started its direct-mail sweepstakes in 1967 and became a pop culture staple by the late 1980s. But annual revenue has fallen in recent years from $854 million in 2017 to $182 million in 2023. When it filed for bankruptcy in April, the company reported up to $100 million in liabilities with only up to $10 million in assets, and $26 million still owed to prize winners. ARB Interactive says only future winners will be paid and plans a new pay structure to separate prize obligations from its own financial status. That offers little solace to past winners like Wyllie. "Pretty sure I'm going to lose my home," he tells KGW.