In a groundbreaking move, Google's parent company, Alphabet, has agreed to acquire the cybersecurity startup Wiz for a staggering $32 billion, according to sources cited by Financial Times. This deal, announced on Tuesday morning shortly after the report came out, represents the largest acquisition in Alphabet's history and underscores its aggressive push into the cloud computing and cybersecurity sectors. The transaction, which dwarfs Alphabet's previous high-profile purchases, signals a strategic effort to bolster its Google Cloud offerings amid intensifying competition from industry giants like Amazon Web Services and Microsoft's Azure. This is also the largest-ever acuqisition of an Israeli-founded tech company.
"Google LLC today announced it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Wiz, Inc., a leading cloud security platform headquartered in New York, for $32 billion, subject to closing adjustments, in an all-cash transaction. Once closed, Wiz will join Google Cloud. This acquisition represents an investment by Google Cloud to accelerate two large and growing trends in the AI era: improved cloud security and the ability to use multiple clouds (multicloud)," Google said. "Both cybersecurity and cloud computing are rapidly growing industries with a vast range of solutions. The increased role of AI, and adoption of cloud services, have dramatically changed the security landscape for customers, making cybersecurity increasingly important in defending against emergent risks and protecting national security."
Wiz delivers an easy-to-use security platform that connects to all major clouds and code environments to help prevent cybersecurity incidents. Organizations of all sizes — from start-ups and large enterprises to governments and public sector organizations — can use Wiz to protect everything they build and run in the cloud. Wiz is an innovative leader and continues to deliver new products with strong adoption, fueling rapid business growth, including over the last 12 months in which it has begun to deliver new categories of cybersecurity solutions.
Wiz, founded in 2020 by alumni of Israel's elite cyber intelligence unit and now headquartered in the United States, has emerged as a leader in cloud security services. The company's rapid ascent is evidenced by its $500 million in annualized recurring revenue achieved last year, a figure co-founder Roy Reznik told Financial Times the firm aims to double in 2025. Catering to nearly half of America's top 100 companies, Wiz has capitalized on the growing demand for robust cybersecurity solutions as businesses increasingly migrate to the cloud. This acquisition comes after failed negotiations last year, when Alphabet offered $23 billion, only to see talks collapse due to antitrust concerns raised by some of Wiz's directors and investors, as reported by Financial Times.
The $32 billion deal, first noted by The Wall Street Journal, includes an additional $1 billion retention bonus for Wiz employees, according to sources familiar with the matter cited by Financial Times. Despite the change in administration under President Donald Trump, the acquisition is expected to face scrutiny from the Federal Trade Commission. Andrew Ferguson, Trump's new FTC chair, has retained guidelines established by his predecessor, Lina Khan, empowering the agency to challenge large-scale mergers. This regulatory oversight looms large in an environment where dealmaking has slowed, hampered by trade policy uncertainty and market volatility under Trump's leadership, a point emphasized by Financial Times.
Alphabet's prior largest acquisition was the $12.5 billion purchase of Motorola Mobility, later sold off, followed by the $5.4 billion acquisition of cybersecurity firm Mandiant in 2022 to enhance Google Cloud. The Wiz takeover eclipses these by a wide margin, reflecting Alphabet's urgency to diversify its revenue streams beyond search-linked advertising. Google Cloud, with a 12% global market share, trails far behind Amazon Web Services (nearly a third) and Microsoft's Azure (21%), according to Financial Times. Acquiring Wiz positions Alphabet to strengthen its cloud offerings at a time when cybersecurity threats are escalating, and businesses demand cutting-edge protections.
Wiz's meteoric rise is rooted in its founding team's expertise and a $1 billion funding round in 2022, led by Andreessen Horowitz, Lightspeed Venture Partners, and Thrive Capital, valuing the company at $12 billion. Backers also include Index Ventures, Insight Partners, G Squared, Sequoia Capital, Greenoaks, Cyberstarts, and Wellington. After last summer's stalled talks with Alphabet, Wiz had pivoted toward an initial public offering, a plan now sidelined by this acquisition.
