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Google completes record acquisition of cloud security firm Wiz

Google completes record acquisition of cloud security firm Wiz

Money Moves

The largest cybersecurity deal ever tests whether a platform owner can run a platform-neutral security company

March 11th, 2026: Google completes $32 billion acquisition of Wiz

Overview

Wiz was founded in January 2020 by four veterans of Israel's military intelligence Unit 8200. Six years later, Google paid $32 billion in cash — the largest deal in Google's history, the largest cybersecurity acquisition ever, and more than the combined cost of its eight next-biggest purchases.

The deal closed on March 11, 2026, after clearing United States Department of Justice (DOJ) and European Union regulatory review without conditions. Google had tried once before, offering roughly $23 billion in mid-2024; Wiz walked away to pursue an initial public offering instead. Google came back nine months later and paid 39 percent more.

Google trails Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft Azure at roughly 12 percent cloud market share. More than 40 percent of Fortune 100 companies use Wiz's platform, which scans environments across all major cloud providers. Google has committed to keeping Wiz available on competing platforms, but the central tension is structural: Wiz's value depends on being platform-neutral, yet Google Cloud is one of the platforms it monitors.

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Key Indicators

$32B
All-cash purchase price
Largest acquisition in Google's 28-year history and the largest cybersecurity deal ever
$1B+
Wiz annual recurring revenue
Crossed the billion-dollar threshold in 2025, five years after founding
40%+
Fortune 100 penetration
More than 40 percent of Fortune 100 companies use Wiz for cloud security
$1.5B
Employee retention bonuses
Distributed across 1,800 employees, averaging roughly $830,000 each, vesting over three years

Voices

Curated perspectives — historical figures and your fellow readers.

Andrew Carnegie

Andrew Carnegie

(1835-1919) · Gilded Age · industry

Fictional AI pastiche — not real quote.

"Thirty-two billion dollars for a firm six years young — and they walked away from twenty-three billion first, which tells you more about shrewd bargaining than any business school ever could. Yet I confess a certain unease: a man who sells his neutrality, however handsomely, has sold the very thing that made him valuable."

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People Involved

Organizations Involved

Timeline

January 2020 March 2026

9 events Latest: March 11th, 2026 · 3 months ago
Tap a bar to jump to that date
  1. Google completes $32 billion acquisition of Wiz

    Latest Deal

    The deal officially closes. Wiz joins Google Cloud but retains its brand and multi-cloud commitments. Google commits $1.5 billion in retention bonuses for Wiz's 1,800 employees.

  2. European Commission approves acquisition unconditionally

    Regulatory

    The EU clears the deal without requiring any remedies or divestitures, concluding it is unlikely to harm competition.

  3. Department of Justice clears the deal

    Regulatory

    The DOJ grants early termination of its Hart-Scott-Rodino antitrust review, effectively approving the acquisition without conditions.

  4. Google announces $32 billion deal for Wiz

    Deal

    Alphabet announces a definitive agreement to acquire Wiz for $32 billion in all cash — a 39 percent premium over the rejected bid and Google's largest acquisition ever.

  5. Wiz rejects Google's $23 billion acquisition offer

    Deal

    Rappaport walks away from Google's offer, citing disagreements over operational independence. He tells employees Wiz will pursue an initial public offering instead.

  6. Wiz raises $1 billion at $12 billion valuation

    Funding

    Series E round led by Andreessen Horowitz, Lightspeed Venture Partners, and Thrive Capital brings total funding to $1.9 billion.

  7. Google acquires Mandiant for $5.4 billion

    Acquisition

    Google Cloud purchases threat intelligence and incident response firm Mandiant, establishing its security acquisition strategy.

  8. Wiz reaches $100 million in annual recurring revenue

    Business Milestone

    Wiz hits the milestone in roughly 18 months, claiming the fastest growth rate in software-as-a-service history.

  9. Wiz founded by four Unit 8200 veterans

    Founding

    Assaf Rappaport, Ami Luttwak, Roy Reznik, and Yinon Costica launch Wiz in Tel Aviv. All four previously co-founded Adallom, which Microsoft acquired for $320 million in 2015.

Historical Context

3 moments from history that rhyme with this story — and how they unfolded.

June 2018

Microsoft acquires GitHub (2018)

Microsoft paid $7.5 billion for GitHub, the platform where most of the world's open-source software developers hosted their code. Developers were alarmed: GitHub's value depended on being platform-neutral, yet Microsoft was buying it. Competitors GitLab and Bitbucket launched campaigns to attract defectors, and hundreds of thousands of repositories migrated in the weeks after the announcement.

Then

An estimated 10 percent of active users explored alternatives in the first month, but the exodus was smaller and shorter than predicted.

Now

Microsoft kept GitHub independent, invested in free features, and grew its revenue from roughly $200 million to over $2 billion annually by 2025. The acquisition is now widely regarded as one of the best tech deals of the decade.

Why this matters now

The closest structural parallel to the Wiz deal: a platform owner acquiring a platform-neutral tool that serves competitors' ecosystems. Microsoft proved it was possible to maintain neutrality and grow the asset. Google faces the same test.

May 2012

Google acquires Motorola Mobility (2012)

Google paid $12.5 billion for Motorola Mobility, its largest acquisition at the time. The stated rationale was to strengthen Android's patent portfolio against lawsuits from Apple and others. Google also hoped to use Motorola to build premium Android hardware.

Then

Google gained 17,000 patents and kept Motorola's hardware division operating for two years.

Now

Google sold Motorola's hardware business to Lenovo for $2.91 billion in 2014, retaining only the patent portfolio. The deal is widely viewed as a financial disappointment — Google paid $12.5 billion and recovered less than $3 billion.

Why this matters now

Google's previous record acquisition is a cautionary tale about overpaying for strategic assets. The Wiz deal costs 2.5 times more. Google must demonstrate it can extract value from Wiz in ways it failed to with Motorola.

March 2024

Cisco acquires Splunk (2024)

Cisco completed its $28 billion all-cash acquisition of Splunk, a data observability and security analytics company with $4 billion in annual recurring revenue. Like the Wiz deal, it was the acquirer's largest purchase ever and represented a strategic pivot toward software and security.

Then

Cisco began integrating Splunk's analytics platform into its networking and security portfolio, positioning itself as an end-to-end security provider.

Now

The integration is still ongoing. Splunk retained its brand and product lines, and Cisco positioned the combined offering against competitors like Palo Alto Networks and CrowdStrike.

Why this matters now

The most recent comparable mega-deal in cybersecurity. At $28 billion for $4 billion in annual revenue, Cisco paid roughly 7 times revenue — compared to Google paying roughly 32 times Wiz's estimated revenue. The valuation gap illustrates the premium Google is paying for Wiz's growth rate and multi-cloud position.

Sources

(13)