Google just announced the biggest deal of the year so far and the largest in its history — the $32 billion acquisition of cybersecurity startup Wiz.
Google parent company Alphabet and Wiz confirmed Tuesday that they had reached an agreement for the all-cash deal.
The two companies were in talks last year for a $23 billion deal, but they fizzled out, and Wiz later said it would instead pursue an initial public offering.
Google CEO Sundar Pichai said during a Tuesday briefing that the deal would boost its cloud security offering at a time when AI is bringing “new risks” and “multi-cloud and hybrid are becoming the norm.”
“Against this backdrop, organizations are looking for cybersecurity solutions that improve cloud security and span multiple clouds,” he added.
Wiz, an Israeli-founded startup headquartered in New York, specializes in technology that scans everything companies put onto the cloud and identifies security risks. Under the agreement, Wiz’s services would continue to be available through other cloud providers such as Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian said in the Tuesday briefing.
Anat Ashkenazi, Google’s CFO, said the company expects the deal to close in 2026, subject to regulatory approvals.
For Google, the deal would give it the chance to show customers its cloud offerings — which trail behind that of Microsoft and Amazon — are as secure as can be. “With Wiz, we believe we will vastly improve how security is designed, operated, and automated,” Kurian added.
Here’s why the acquisition is a big deal for startup exits and a big test for the Trump administration.
Return of startup dealmaking?
A deal of this size could catalyze more startup M&A activity following a sluggish few years.
In 2024, there were 2,066 VC-backed startup M&A exits, worth $83.6 billion, according to PitchBook data. The first quarter of 2025 was off to a slower start, with 382 M&A deals worth $13.6 billion.
Wiz’s $32 billion deal has tipped the scales significantly, potentially pointing to more appetite for acquisitions as an exit route.
“Acquisitions allow startups to avoid the inherent volatility of public markets altogether and just focus on long-term growth and their daily operations,” Mariam Pettit, managing partner of Graph Theory Capital, told Business Insider, adding that they could deliver faster returns than IPOs.
Startups have been gravitating towards secondary share sales and acquisitions in lieu of public listings for multiple reasons. The IPO process can be tough, requiring thorough auditing of a company’s financials, potential restructurings, and regulatory compliance — as well as more intense quarterly scrutiny, Pettit said.
The US IPO market remained relatively dormant in 2024 despite high multiples and low volatility. According to PitchBook data, most VC-backed listings underperformed last year, with Instacart, Klaviyo, and Ibotta trading significantly lower relative to the Morningstar Growth Index.
Wiz’s deal with Google would offer the company a strong avenue to bolster its growth, a person familiar with the process told BI, adding that the company surpassed $700 million in annual recurring revenue in the last quarter.
A test for Trump’s antitrust regime
A $32 billion acquisition for Google would be a big test of the regulatory environment under the Trump administration.
While President Donald Trump had been expected to bring in a more favorable M&A environment, Vice President JD Vance has previously supported stricter dealmaking rules. Last year, he backed legislation to eliminate tax breaks for corporate mergers, signaling a stance that’s closer to former FTC chair Lina Khan, who, under Biden, launched investigations into Microsoft and Amazon’s businesses.
However, Andrew Ferguson, Khan’s replacement, said in February that the Trump administration would continue using strict corporate merger guidelines adopted under Biden.
Against this backdrop, Google is facing two antitrust lawsuits, including one against its search business that was brought during Trump’s first term.
Two recent Google mergers have come under close scrutiny by regulators but ultimately passed: its $2.1 acquisition of Fitbit in 2021, and its purchase of cybersecurity firm Mandiant for $5.4bn in 2022.
