Sales engineer takes home $1 million Picasso with  $117 raffle ticket

World Sales engineer takes home $1 million Picasso with $117 raffle ticket Updated on: April 15, 2026 / 8:50 AM EDT / CBS/AP Add CBS News on Google A sales engineer from Paris won a Pablo Picasso painting worth at least $1 million in a raffle this week, which he'd entered with just a $117 raffle ticket. Ari Hodara, 58, described himself as an amateur art enthusiast and fan of Picasso's work. He said he'd bought a ticket just days earlier for the charity raffle at Christie's auction house, in the French capital, after hearing about it by chance during a meal at a restaurant.When raffle organizers called him to report the outcome of the draw on Tuesday, Hodara was so stunned he asked if the call was real."How do I check that it's not a hoax?" he asked.Hodara was not the only raffle entrant who bought their ticket on a whim. People from around the world purchased tickets for 100 euros each — or about $117 — to enter the auction that ultimately raised about $14 million for Alzheimer's research."First, I will tell the news to my wife, who has yet to return from work," Hodara said. "And at first, I think I'll take advantage of it and keep it."The third iteration of the "1 Picasso for 100 euros" lottery was for Picasso's "Head of a Woman," a portrait of Picasso's longtime muse and partner Dora Maar. The gouache-on-paper was painted by the artist in 1941. The painting "Head of a Woman" by Pablo Picasso, painted in 1941, is presented prior to the raffle draw at the auction house Christie's in Paris, Tuesday, April 14, 2026. Michel Euler / AP Organizers of the raffle said 120,000 tickets were sold worldwide, netting 12 million euros, or $14 million. Of that, 1 million euros will be paid to the Opera Gallery, an international art dealership that owned the painting. Gilles Dyan, the gallery founder, said he offered a preferential price for the painting, with the public price at 1.45 million euros. The first raffle in 2013 saw a Pennsylvania man who worked at a...