A Billionaire Tech CEO and His Bride Almost Missed Their Own Wedding in Egypt

Ankur Jain, a billionaire tech CEO who founded Bilt Rewards, and Erika Hammond, a former professional wrestler and creator of Equinox’s Knockout class, tied the knot in an extravagant four-day wedding in Cairo, Egypt—but they almost missed the celebration. Due to a permit issue with their charter flight, the future spouses didn’t make it to their welcome party at Muhammed Ali Palace—the first event of the weekend—until 2:40 a.m., according to People.

The publication reported that the couple was flying to Egypt from South Africa, where they had been on a safari with some of their friends, who would also be attending the wedding. Even though the two of them spent weeks coordinating the details and negotiating with the government to travel from the African country on an overnight flight, all of their efforts were futile. “Everything was smooth,” Jain said. “All of the checked bags were loaded into the vans, ready to go, when we get a phone call that our Egypt Air flight had been turned away by the South African government.”

Upon hearing the news, the bride and groom spent the rest of the night devising a plan to make their welcome party on time. According to the outlet, they even considered booking an indirect commercial flight to another city in South Africa, which would stop in Dubai before heading to Cairo. After continuously hitting dead ends, the couple lost hope. “We were gonna miss for sure at this point the whole opening day,” Jain thought at the time. “We were even worried about making the second day, and you can imagine, we planned this for a year. Erika was in decent spirits. I was devastated.”

At 8 a.m. the following day, Jain and Hammond finally got the green light from the transport authority, who signed the permit, allowing them to head toward Cairo. Since their new flight time was way behind schedule, their new estimated time of arrival was 11 p.m., which was three hours after their welcome party was supposed to start. The couple sent a text to their guests, alerting them that they’d be making a late appearance. “Everybody rallied on that group chat and said, ‘Nope, we’ll push the party. We’ll stay up. We’re going to keep the party going and you guys come when you land, and we’re going to celebrate together,’” Jain recalled.

The journey took Jain and Hammond 12 hours, but the couple and their friends on board spent the entirety of the flight playing music and getting ready for the party, complete with a fashion show. Their friends and family who were already at the destination also kept the duo's spirits high. “While we were on our way, everyone in Cairo was at the bar together, sending us photos, rallying us to get there,” Jain said.

It wasn’t until 2:40 a.m. that the couple finally arrived at their welcome party. The outlet reported that the entire wedding party stayed up all night, dancing to music that a DJ played while belly dancers and fire dancers provided entertainment. “We partied until 5 a.m., having just the best opening night,” Jain reflected.