America’s first lottery billionaire, Edwin Castro, appears to have struck it lucky again after a date with an Instagram model who describes herself as a poet, writer, critic and screenwriter.
The 31-year-old, who won $997 million after taxes in the 2022 Powerball drawing, locked lips with Payten Vincent, 24, outside Los Angeles celebrity hotspot Nobu on Sunday morning after the pair enjoyed an evening there together the night before.
Castro deleted her social media accounts following her record lottery win, but her new partner already has 125,000 followers on her Instagram account, where she has posted selfies of herself partying with celebrities including rapper Flavor Flav and DJs Cedric Gervais and Diplo.
The young socialite carried a Christian Dior handbag and wore a short black dress and white heels as she left the chic Malibu sushi restaurant on Saturday night.
Billionaire lottery winner Edwin Castro and his new date Payten Vincent were spotted getting cozy after arriving at Los Angeles’ Nobu restaurant in their $500,000 Porsche.
The couple seemed unconcerned by the attention as they strolled down the street together.
She had changed into baggy pants and a black top when she returned with her new boyfriend in his $500,000 Porsche the next morning, while he was dressed in a baggy T-shirt and black cargo pants.
Castro has only been photographed on a handful of dates since winning the $2 billion pre-tax jackpot in November 2022, though he clearly has a taste for seafood after taking a mystery blonde to West Hollywood’s Sushi Park in February.
Her new date’s LinkedIn page reveals that she is a graduate of Falmouth High School on Cape Cod in Massachusetts, where her interests included downhill ski racing.
She has worked as a freelance model and as a ‘food critic for all types of cuisine, focusing on fine dining and gluten-free restaurants’.
His work as a screenwriter remains a mystery, but his Instagram page has a link to a blog where he has published some of his poetry under the title ‘Reckless Intelligence’.
“The depressing life of a restless girl,” she writes. “The beautiful aimless will of the world.
‘Exasperated nihilist, exploring philosopher, lessons can be learned nowhere else but in the wake of the speedboat.’
It’s not known if Castro has spent any of his winnings on a speedboat, but he has splashed out big on a $47 million mansion in Bel Air, a $25 million home in the Hollywood Hills and a $4 million Japanese-inspired home in Altadena for his mother and father, near the suburb where he grew up.
Peyton was ready for takeoff while enjoying the Burning Man festival last summer.
And the 24-year-old had no shortage of outfits to match her exotic surroundings.
The young socialite describes herself as a poet, writer, critic and screenwriter.
Her CV also lists six months spent “modelling for fashion brands, influencing and marketing.”
Meanwhile, Vincent spent more than 18 months volunteering to prepare and serve food at a homeless shelter in Portland, Maine, as a teenager.
She is currently spending more time in Hollywood venues including Tao nightclub, Poppy and Nightingale Plaza, as well as VIP trips to Coachella in California and Art Basel in Miami.
Her most prized possession appears to be a young albino hedgehog, but the creature does not appear to have accompanied her on her travels around the world to Puerto Rico, France and South America.
“I love this country with all my heart and honestly long to live here,” she wrote after a trip to Belize in 2022.
‘The land, the culture, the people, the feeling of magic, the food, the weather, the waves and the fruit.
‘Not many people know that one of my dreams is to have a van and drive around, cook my own food, maybe buy local eggs and make breakfast for the rest of the camp.
‘I roll my own tobacco and give kombucha to the villagers. I hike in the mountains, watch sunsets, laze on the beach for days and never know what day it is (unless there’s an open mic nearby).’
Castro’s life took a dramatic turn when he bought the winning ticket at a local gas station in November 2022 before claiming a lump sum of $997.6 million in February last year.
Joe’s Service Center in Altadena, California, where the ticket was purchased in 2022
Castro’s $47 million Bel Air home features lots of glass and unparalleled views of Los Angeles
Castro’s car collection now includes a 1980s Porsche 911 G-series valued at $250,000
You might find the van you’re looking for among Castro’s classic car collection, which now includes a vintage white Porsche 911, a gray Ram 1500 TRX, three Volkswagen Karmann Ghias, a green British Porsche 356 racer from the 1970s and a black Porsche 911 from the 1980s.
His Bel Air estate also features a champagne tasting room, a suspended glass walkway, a glass-walled pool-sized koi pond and an infinity pool.
