Google to Acquire Cloud Security Startup Wiz for $32 Billion in Its Largest Deal Ever

Google on Tuesday, March 18, 2025, signed a “definitive agreement” to acquire Wiz, a New York-based cloud security startup, for $32 billion in an all-cash deal. The transaction — Google’s largest ever — is designed to bolster the company’s security technology in a world of advancing artificial intelligence and cybersecurity threats. Wiz will become part of Google’s cloud business, and the company said it expects the deal to close in 2026.

Google’s biggest acquisition on record

At $32 billion, the deal tops Google’s previous record — the $12.5 billion purchase of hardware maker Motorola in 2012. Two years later, the company sold some Motorola assets to Lenovo for $2.9 billion. Google has also made cybersecurity acquisitions in the past, paying $5.4 billion for Mandiant in 2022. Parent company Alphabet closed the year with $96 billion in cash and marketable securities, giving it ample capacity for an all-cash transaction of this size.

From a rejected $23 billion offer to a definitive agreement

In July 2024, CNBC reported that Wiz walked away from a potential $23 billion acquisition by Google and told employees it would pursue an initial public offering instead. A source familiar with the matter said Wiz exited the talks in part because of antitrust and investor concerns. “Saying no to such humbling offers is tough,” Wiz co-founder Assaf Rappaport wrote in a memo to employees at the time. The IPO market, however, has yet to open in a significant way since deals slowed to a trickle starting in 2022, and before the latest talks with Google were reported, Wiz had set its sights on an IPO and $1 billion in annual recurring revenue.

The renewed negotiations come against a shifting regulatory backdrop. A month after Wiz walked away, a federal judge ruled that Google holds a monopoly in the search market, four years after the government filed its landmark case alleging that the company created stiff barriers to entry and a feedback loop that sustained its dominance. Tech companies have expressed optimism that the Trump administration will open the door to large acquisitions after a difficult four years under President Joe Biden. Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai was among the high-profile tech executives who attended President Donald Trump’s inauguration in January, and Alphabet donated $1 million to the inauguration fund.

What Wiz brings to Google Cloud

Founded in 2020, Wiz has grown rapidly under Rappaport, hitting $100 million in annual recurring revenue after just 18 months. “Becoming part of Google Cloud is effectively strapping a rocket to our backs: it will accelerate our rate of innovation faster than what we could achieve as a standalone company,” Rappaport said in a blog post on Tuesday. Key elements of the deal include:

• Wiz’s cloud security products span prevention, active detection and response — a portfolio that has appealed to large firms.
• Wiz joins Google Cloud, which Google describes as “a leader in cloud infrastructure, with deep AI expertise and a track record of industry-leading security innovation” that will make Wiz solutions “even better and more scalable, benefiting customers and partners across all major clouds”.
• Wiz products will still work on competitor platforms, including Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure and Oracle Cloud, the companies said.
• The acquisition would help Google compete with Microsoft, which also sells security software.

The Wall Street Journal first reported on Monday that the companies were in advanced discussions. Alphabet shares fell about 2 per cent on Tuesday and were down 15 per cent for the year at the time of the announcement.

Company details

Google (Alphabet Inc.) — google.com