Google to acquire cloud security startup Wiz for $32 billion

Google on Tuesday signed a “definitive agreement” to acquire Wiz, a New York-based cloud security startup, for $32 billion in an all-cash deal.

The deal, Google’s largest ever, will bolster the company’s security technology in a world of advancing artificial intelligence and cybersecurity threats. Wiz will become a part of the company’s cloud business, and Google said it expects the deal to close in 2026.

“Google Cloud is a leader in cloud infrastructure, with deep AI expertise and a track record of industry-leading security innovation,” Google said in a release. “Bringing all this to Wiz will help make their solutions even better and more scalable, benefiting customers and partners across all major clouds.”

Last year, Wiz walked away from a potential $23 billion acquisition by Google and told employees that it would pursue an IPO instead. However, the IPO market has yet to open in a significant way since deals slowed to a trickle starting in 2022, and 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.

A source familiar with the matter told CNBC that Wiz walked away from the deal in July in part due to antitrust and investor concerns.

“Saying no to such humbling offers is tough,” Wiz co-founder Assaf Rappaport wrote to employees in a memo at the time that was obtained by CNBC.

A month later, a federal judge ruled that Google holds a monopoly in the search market, four years after the government filed its landmark case, which alleged that Google created stiff barriers to entry and a feedback loop that sustained its dominance.

Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai was among a group of high-profile tech execs who attended President Donald Trump’s inauguration in January, and the company donated $1 million to the inauguration fund.

Before the latest talks with Google were reported, Wiz had set its sights on an IPO and $1 billion in annual recurring revenue. In the July memo, Rappaport wrote that the company would pursue those milestones.

Wiz was founded in 2020 and has grown rapidly under Rappaport, with the company hitting $100 million in annual recurring revenue after just 18 months. The company’s cloud security products include prevention, active detection and response, a portfolio that’s appealed to large firms and would have helped Google compete with Microsoft, which also sells security software.

“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 Tuesday.

While Google has a long history in M&A, it has shied away from megadeals. Prior to Wiz, its largest purchase was the $12.5 billion acquisition of hardware marker Motorola in 2012. Two years later, the company sold some assets to Lenovo for $2.9 billion. Google has also made cybersecurity acquisitions in the past, paying $5.4 billion for Mandiant in 2022.

Alphabet closed the year with $96 billion in cash and marketable securities.

Wiz’s products will still work on competitor platforms including Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure and Oracle Cloud, the companies said. The Wall Street Journal first reported Monday that the companies were in advanced discussions.

Alphabet shares fell about 2% on Tuesday and are now down 15% for the year.

— CNBC’s Jennifer Elias and Jordan Novet contributed to this report.