How do they send you a ton of money?

For a story, my MC has just sold his debut novel for the fabled "six figure advance" (I'm writing fantasy, obviously).

So say this happened. How would the publisher send him the money? Mail him a check? Transfer it directly into his bank? Maybe you have to hire a financial planner to handle all of it, so you don't get eaten up by taxes? I don't want to know anybody's personal business, and I'm not looking for free financial advice, but does anybody know how that kind of money is handled? Never having had to bear the burden of managing large amounts of money, I haven't a clue.

Or, say I skip the writing angle completely and have him win the powerball lottery thing...say after taxes and whatever he gets five million...How the hell do you give somebody five million dollars? And if the guy wants to go buy a house with it...just write a check?

The whole point is that my MC is at the happiest moment in his life...won the "lottery," so to speak, only to wake up the next morning and find that everybody is gone (or dead, or zombies, or whatever). End of the world type stuff.

Thanks for any light you can shed on the subject.

Fan-tastic. Thank you guys for the ideas. I've been sitting around on this scene all day...but the wire transfer thing works just fine. My poor MC wakes up bright and early on the day after the wire transfer...almost giddy with the potential of it all.

Where the hell is everybody?

Hello?

Helloooooooooo?

Seriously, thanks for the input. I really appreciate it.