Alphabet Acquires Cybersecurity Startup Wiz for $23 BillionAlphabet Acquires Cybersecurity Startup Wiz for $23 Billion Alphabet Inc., the parent company of Google, is reportedly in discussions to acquire cybersecurity startup Wiz Inc. for a potential sum of $23 billion, according to a source familiar with the matter. This would mark the tech giant’s largest acquisition to date. No deal has been finalized yet, and talks could still end without an agreement. Both Alphabet and Wiz have declined to comment on the matter, which was first reported by the Wall Street Journal. Alphabet’s interest in Wiz comes amid intensified antitrust scrutiny from regulators. The company currently faces several lawsuits, including one from the U.S. Department of Justice alleging abuse of dominance in online search. However, Alphabet has also been investing heavily in its cloud customer business, hoping to gain ground on rival providers Microsoft Corp. and Amazon.com Inc. Acquiring Wiz, a cloud and cybersecurity company, could bolster Google’s capabilities in this growing market. Founded in 2020, Wiz has developed a platform that connects to cloud storage providers like Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure. It scans data for security risks and removes them. The company was valued at $12 billion in a May funding round led by Andreessen Horowitz, Lightspeed Venture Partners, and Thrive Capital. If finalized, the Wiz acquisition would follow Alphabet’s $5.4 billion purchase of cybersecurity firm Mandiant Inc. in 2022. This would be the company’s second-largest acquisition behind its 2012 deal for Motorola Mobility Holdings LLC.
(Bloomberg) — Alphabet Inc., the parent company of Google, is in talks to acquire cybersecurity startup Wiz Inc., a person familiar with the matter said.
The deal could total as much as $23 billion, said the person, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss nonpublic information. It would be the tech giant’s largest acquisition to date.
No deal has been reached yet and talks could still end without an agreement, the source said.
A representative for Alphabet did not immediately respond to requests for comment. A spokesperson for Wiz declined to comment. The talks were previously reported by the Wall Street Journal.
The talks come on the heels of Alphabet shelving efforts to acquire customer relationship management company HubSpot Inc., Bloomberg News reported last week. As with the HubSpot deal, a potential acquisition as large as Wiz’s is unusual for a major tech company like Alphabet given the heightened scrutiny the company faces from antitrust regulators.
Google is already facing several antitrust challenges, including a lawsuit from the U.S. Department of Justice accusing it of abusing its dominant position in online search, as well as a lawsuit filed over its digital advertising tools.
Alphabet has been ramping up investments in its cloud customer business, including offering more generative artificial intelligence tools to customers. While Google still lags behind Microsoft Corp. and Amazon.com Inc. in the cloud computing market, the company reported that its cloud unit has been profitable in consecutive quarters, after years in which the unit was a money-losing operation.
An acquisition of Wiz, a cloud and cybersecurity company, could help Google catch up to Microsoft and Amazon in an increasingly competitive cloud market.
As more startups move their apps and data to the cloud, the opportunity in the sector is growing, especially as generative AI apps and tools become increasingly popular. Such tools often require uploading massive datasets to the cloud, on which AI models can train, generating outputs like images, marketing campaigns or software code based on what users tell the generative AI software.
New York-based Wiz connects to cloud storage providers like Amazon Web Services or Microsoft Azure and identifies and scans data stored in the cloud, looking for and removing security risks. The company, founded in 2020, was valued at $12 billion in a May funding round that attracted investors including Andreessen Horowitz, Lightspeed Venture Partners and Thrive Capital.
A deal by Alphabet for Wiz would follow its $5.4 billion acquisition of cybersecurity firm Mandiant Inc. in 2022. That would have been the company’s second-largest acquisition, surpassed only by its 2012 deal for Motorola Mobility Holdings LLC, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
–With assistance from Liana Baker and Ryan Gould.
More stories like this are available at bloomberg.com
©2024 Bloomberg LP
3.6 Crore Indians visited us in a single day and chose us as India’s undisputed platform for the general election results. Check out the latest updates here!
