The acquisition of Wiz by Google for the figure of 32 billion dollars It is the largest in the story of Alphabetthe parent company to which Google is headed. Now the approval by the regulatory authorities is expected, which could lead to finalize the operation in 2026. But Because Google decided to spend such an imposing figure To acquire a startup that, after all, was born only a few years ago? The move made by the Mountain View giant represents a clear sign of the intention to want to significantly strengthen its position in the cloud computing and IT security market e fill the gap with Microsoft Azure and Aws.
Who is Wiz and because he attracted Google’s interest
Wizborn to January 2020 in Israelhas its main headquarters a New York And it is a startup that deals with cybersecurity, specialized in offering computer security solutions based on the cloud. Despite being a very young company, Wiz has quickly gained credibility and over time has a boast of prestigious collaborations, above all the one with Microsoft And Amazon. The rapid growth and technological innovation of the startup have led her to be evaluated 12 billion dollars in May 2024a figure climbed to 16 billion dollars by End of 2024.
The context in which this acquisition is inserted is far from simple. In recent years, Google has focused a lot on computer security to strengthen its offer in the cloud computing sector. This segment is crucial to compete with other giants, such as AWS (Amazon Web Services) And Microsoft Azure. Google had already acquired in 2022 two other companies specialized in cybersecurity, Mandiant And Shamefulrespectively for $ 5.4 billion and 500 million dollars. But despite these investments, Google has not yet managed to completely fill the gap with Microsoft, which has maintained a more solid reputation in the IT security sector. The acquisition of Wiz therefore appears as an attempt to overturn this perception and strengthen one’s data protection skills in the cloud.
Assaf Rappaportco-founder and Wiz CEO, said that becoming part of Google Cloud will allow the company to have an important push. Specifically he said:
We expect this change allows us to perform and innovate even faster. Becoming part of Google Cloud is like tieing a rocket behind us: it will accelerate our innovation rate faster than we could get as an autonomous company.
The difficulties of the negotiation
Already in 2023 Google had tried to acquire Wiz, but the negotiations had stopped due to fears related to possible violations of the US antitrust regulations. This new agreement will also be subjected to a careful exam by the competent authoritiesin particular from FTC (Federal Trade Commission), led by the new president Andrew Ferguson. Google and Wiz hope that after the change of presidential administration in the USA with the victory of Donald Trump A more flexible approach is adopted, even if Ferguson has already expressed his intention to maintain a rigid position against the big tech. To prevent further regulatory obstacles, Google has already declared that Wiz will continue to offer its services also on competing cloud platforms, such as the aforementioned AWS and Microsoft Azure, as well as Oracle Cloud, thus ensuring the continuity of its Multicloud vocation.
Another element of reflection concerns the overall position of Google compared to the regulatory authorities. The company is currently involved in two different antitrust causes with the United States Department of Justice, one of which has already been lost (for the record, Google already presented appeal) and the other is still in the decision phase. It is clear that, in a similar context, the acquisition of Wiz represents a further challenge for a company already under the magnifying glass of the authorities. We are curious to see how it will end.
