09/29/2025September 29, 2025Frankfurt man finds winning lottery ticket in jacket pocket as weather turns cold
A German man who donned a jacket stored away since March got the surprise of his life over the weekend.
The family father from Frankfurt had forgotten a lotto ticket in the pocket of the jacket when he put it away for the summer. He didn’t discover the ticket again until the weather turned chilly.
“It wasn’t until the weekend that I found the ticket again, folded up in the inside pocket of my jacket,” the unidentified man was quoted as saying, adding, “When I checked the numbers on my phone and saw the winning amount, I was completely shocked — luckily I was sitting down, otherwise my knees would have given way.”
The winning amount was €15.3 million ($18 million).
Lotto Frankfurt, which initiated a PR campaign searching for the lucky winner earlier this year, said the man had remained oblivious to his good fortune despite having seen and heard the campaign to identify the winner.
“I heard about it on the radio at the time and thought to myself, ‘How stupid can you be to not collect it?’ It never occurred to me that I could be the person they were looking for,” the winner said.
When asked what he planned to do with his winnings, the man said he wanted to buy a new sofa for his living room.
Beyond that, he and his wife — who wish to remain anonymous — said they plan to use the bulk of the money to provide for their children.