Alphabet, the parent company of Google, is close to buying cybersecurity startup Wiz for about $23 billion. If this happens, it will be Alphabet's biggest purchase ever. Most of the payment will be in cash, and the deal might be finalized soon, according to a report by Reuters.
Wiz started in Israel and is now based in New York. It’s a fast-growing company that offers cloud-based cybersecurity services. These services use artificial intelligence to detect and respond to threats in real-time. In 2023, Wiz made around $350 million in revenue and works with 40 per cent of Fortune 100 companies.
This potential deal is notable because the U.S. government, under President Joe Biden, is more carefully watching big tech companies to prevent them from getting too powerful through acquisitions. However, Alphabet is still moving forward with its plans.
Wiz partners with big cloud service providers like Microsoft and Amazon. Its clients include major companies like Morgan Stanley and DocuSign. Wiz has 900 employees across the US, Europe, Asia, and Israel, and plans to hire 400 more people in 2024.
This will be the biggest acquisition from the tech giant after it had puchased Motorola Mobilitiy for a sum of $12.5 billion in 2012. However, the company ended up selling Motorola Mobility at just $2.91 billion. A decade ago, Motorola was seen as a direct competitor of Samsung in the space of Android smartphone market.
Alphabet was recently considering buying the online marketing software company HubSpot but decided not to. Now, it seems to be focusing on boosting its cybersecurity capabilities by possibly acquiring Wiz.
So far, neither Alphabet nor Wiz has commented on the potential deal. The tech industry is watching closely to see if this major acquisition will go through, as it could have a big impact on cybersecurity and Alphabet’s business.