I was just in town and saw another one of those highest lottery price of 15 million € and I was really tempted to just buy one ticket to hopefully win the money. And that got me thinking "Why would I want that money?".
Actually, I got a whole spectrum of ideas what to do with the money. I thought to start a thread with the simple question:
You got suddenly 15 million bucks. What will you do with that money?
What I would do:
*Buy all games on GOG(figures)
*make sure my step mother's pharmacy is financially save for the next 50 years.
*Get all the books of high quality literature I always wanted
*Go to Japan and buy from Square-Enix the rights of their old games, just as the Soul Blazer Series and Secret of Mana, and have them released at GoG with Open Source. While am I at it, get Alundra and Yamibou on the way and remake them.
*Save the tigers! And doplhins!
*Support the game developers and nationalists in Iran
*Support the Cyrus documentation some dude has been working on since some years
*Buy Lesbos from the Greek gouvernment and create your own game studio there and make dozens of games with lesbian protagonists for the lulz
Well, that would be it. If Ubisoft would be desperate of money, I could make a contract with them and make some Beyond Good and Evil and Prince of Persia games which WON'T suck and are DRM free.

They might not be the best games ever but think of it not as supporting the C list games, think of it as supporting an A list service
By the way, what are you after as the answer to this question Tantrix?

I am looking for an answer for the best way to use the money to make the world better in a non-liberal douchy way. Less on personal needs, but more on the "big picture":
like supporting GoG to an even more glorious age, increase nature protection, become a movie producer, save the whales from the Japs and other fishers,train a special army to free Tibet and Iran, start a game studio and create awesome indie games.
Decisions which less reflect on yourself but more on other people and see them become happy.
Or just the most awesome option which is...just awesome by any nerdy meaning.

Oh well then a game studio to show that old style games can still be every bit as good if people only design them properly. Also that dofficulty levels need to be more than armour nerfing and enemy buffing
Was thinking of an (original) xcom style turn based strategy. On hard the game is as tricky as the original xcom, you have to manage variable action points, fatigue, injury, ammo/resources etc. On medium you have to manage ammo/resources and uniform APs and on easy you just have to manage uniform APs.
The game could be as pretty and dynamic as a AAA title, when units are in motion they sprint, duck, weave and take cover as if they were in something like gears of war. Things like cover could be modelled to actually provide cover rather than just be a yes/no sight & movement blocking thing.
In short, it could be awesome IF someone made it to appeal to modern tastes rather than just cloning the original.
Hmm, any decent programmers and/or artists here?

Tantrix: Heh, looking at your list of ideas it's pretty clear that you need a lot more than 15 million euro.
As for myself, I'd go into the games industry. I know the industry well enough that I think I'd be able to use the foundation to make a few clever investments (backing the right people) and end up with a fairly successful business. Budgets would start low, but this would be a long term project and I'm certain I could get some decent income along the way.
As for making the world better, well, I'd try to fund interesting, innovative projects in viable niche genres, and if I did things right, the world would eventually end up with more good space sims, turn based strategy games, single player role playing games and probably a new Tex Murphy game or two (yeah, obviously those guys are among the first I'd talk to about funding).
And that would be pretty good, yeah?

i'd hire a group of thugs in V masks to beat up stephen conroy.

my plans involve harems. big harems.

1) Pay off any family debts
2) Find a nice bit of acreage (more than five for be unwieldy for me I think)
3) Build my homestead
4) Set up a permanent endowment for our local academy.
Throw any left over in separate accounts for future expenses (children's education, retirement, etc)

All of which can't stop saying bloody 'Simples'.

I think I'd do the usual: House, car, travel, live the rest of my life with the money and just spend time doing what I'd like to do.
If I take a guess at how much longer I have to live and divide it by 15 million, trust me, I don't need to invest in anything else. Maybe put something away for kids and such, but still, 15 million is a lot of money and goes a long way unless you start spending it on stupid, luxurious stuff and start flaunting it to impress instead of to fulfilling your needs, wants and comfort.

Well, I'd definitely pay off any and all debts/bills first - invest into something secure and long-term for future generations and then go WILD - travel around the world, meet up with my online pals (including some of you from GOG too),donate to charity, take my friends along for the ride of course, but in the end, I'd make my own chain of vidya game stores - not just stores, but information centers and sort of mini-museums for vidya, where people could learn about and try out games and appreciate this new form of expression in its full glory.
Naturally, this is all very idealistic... A man can dream, though. :)

We have a winrar

Not her style at all. Although she did want a canopy bed. She still eats off the kid's menu at restaurants after all.

Never ever do what i have to do. Only what i want.