Alphabet in Talks to Acquire Cyber Security Startup Wiz for $23 Billion: Largest Acquisition in Company’s History

Alphabet, Google’s parent company, is reportedly in talks to acquire cybersecurity start-up Wiz for a whopping $23 billion, marking what could be the largest acquisition in the company’s history. The potential deal, as reported by the Wall Street Journal, is still in the negotiation phase with several details yet to be finalized.

If the acquisition goes through, it would pose a major test for antitrust regulators, who have been closely monitoring tech giants’ acquisition activities in recent years. Alphabet’s last significant acquisition was the $12.5 billion purchase of Motorola Mobility over ten years ago.

For Alphabet, the acquisition of Wiz would signify a significant entry into the cybersecurity realm, following its $5.4 billion acquisition of Mandiant two years ago. Wiz, a US-Israeli startup founded in 2020 and headquartered in New York, has garnered around $2 billion in funding from investors and was most recently valued at $12 billion. Led by Israeli founder Assaf Rappaport, a former Microsoft executive, Wiz specializes in helping companies secure their cloud programs, a crucial aspect as businesses increasingly transition to online software and data storage. The company reportedly generates $350 million in annual recurring revenue.

Wiz’s backers include renowned venture capital firms Sequoia and Thrive, and the company has research and development facilities in Tel Aviv. A potential acquisition of Wiz by Alphabet would mark one of the largest acquisitions of a venture capital-backed company to date.

While Wiz has declined to comment on the ongoing talks, Google, Alphabet’s subsidiary, has not provided any official statement regarding the matter. Stay tuned as the tech world eagerly awaits the outcome of these discussions that could reshape the cybersecurity landscape.