iWon.com Announces Michael Buttrey as Finalist in $10 Million Sweepstakes
Local Reston Man Named as One of Three Lucky Finalists in iWon.com $10 Million Giveaway
(Irvington, NY, April 13, 2001) – Michael Buttrey from Reston, VA got the surprise of his life when he stepped out of the shower on Friday morning. He was in the middle of getting dressed when his doorbell rang. Surprised, he opened the door only to see TV cameras and representatives from iWon.com standing on his doorstep waiting to tell him the good news – Michael Buttrey was a finalist in the iWon.com $10 million giveaway! Buttrey, who has been using iWon.com since the site launched in the fall of 1999, never thought he would win anything let alone a chance at $10 million.
Buttrey, a group manager at a major telecommunications company, just moved into a new house last week with his wife Sarah and 14 month old toddler, Kira. He grew up in Austin, TX moving to Gainsville, FL, Columbia and Mexico City, Mexico all before the fifth grade. After that he moved back to Austin before going to college at Wesleyan in Connecticut and then off to Harvard Business School in Cambridge, MA.
In the middle, Michael took a year off and went to Belgium where he was a bike racer. He raced bikes for 16 years and has recently stopped to spend time with his family. He is excited to take it up again in a few years. Buttrey called his parents to tell them the good news and they were ecstatic. When asked what he will do with the money if he wins, Buttrey responded, “I am not sure, invest it, spend it, save it, a little of everything!”
On Wednesday and Thursday morning iWon surprised Diane Sanders of Bridgeport, OH and Stephen Fowler of Duluth, GA respectively, with the news that they were each finalists in the $10 million drawing. Sanders was shocked -- “Wow, this is amazing! I just can’t believe this! This is truly a life-changing moment!” Fowler was surprised as well—“I can’t believe I may win $10 million dollars!”
Buttrey is one of three finalists in iWon.com’s $10 million Grand Prize drawing. The three iWon finalists were drawn from the pool of all iWon users who earned entries in the iWon sweepstakes for the period – April 1, 2000 – March 31, 20001.
All three finalists will be assembled in New York City on Monday, April 16th at the James A. Farley Post Office at 31st - 33rd Streets and Eighth Avenue, where one will be randomly selected as the $10 million winner. The other two finalists will receive either a seven-day Hawaiian vacation for four, courtesy of Travelocity.com, or an eight-day Caribbean cruise for two. iWon users became eligible for the $10 million prize for using iWon to read the news, search the web, check email and perform other regular Internet activities.
About iWon
Launched in October 1999, iWon is the 5th most trafficked site on the Internet (Nielsen//NetRatings, February 2001). iWon also ranks as the most loyal portal on the Web, consistently placing first in days visited per month, unique pages viewed per month and minutes spent per person per month (Media Metrix, February 2001). In addition, iWon has led all portals in user satisfaction for three consecutive quarters (NPD Search and Portal Tracking Study, June/November/March 2000-2001). iWon provides award-winning search, ranking #1 in advanced search on the Internet (Search Engine Showdown, July 2000). iWon provides world-class search and content from leading partners such as Associated Press, CBS, Reuters, Travelocity, and WeatherNews Inc.
As an added incentive, iWon gives away $10,000 a day, $1 million a month and a chance to win $25 million on Tax Day. By simply using the site to search the Web, check email, go shopping, read the news, or perform other regular Internet activities, iWon users earn entries into the daily, monthly and annual cash giveaways. iWon Cash Points, like iWon entries, are accumulated for virtually everything users do on the site. Users can apply iWon Cash Points toward deep discounts in the iWon Rewards Store. To date, iWon has selected more than 200,000 winners and has given away more than $36 million in cash prizes.
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