Google's parent company is about to acquire a cybersecurity startup for $23 billion

Citing unnamed sources, it is claimed that Alphabet is in talks to buy cybersecurity upstart Wiz for $23 billion.

Wiz is a cybersecurity startup founded in 2020. Wiz's main business is providing cloud cybersecurity solutions. Although it has only been in operation for a short time, Wiz has made a big splash when it discovered security vulnerabilities from many companies, including one of Google's competitors, Microsoft. In May 2023, Wiz revealed that it had found a vulnerability in Wiz in Microsoft's Bing search engine. This serious vulnerability could allow hackers to not only steal personal information from this tool, but also actually change the search results returned.

Since its founding, Wiz has raised a total of $1.9 billion from various investors and institutions. CNBC reported that as recently as May, the company was valued at $12 billion and was considering launching its own IPO to become a publicly traded business.

This will be a significant investment by Alphabet in the cybersecurity space, reflecting the growing importance of digital security in a business landscape increasingly dependent on the cloud.

If successful, the value of this deal will surpass the record $12.5 billion deal that Google made in 2012 to acquire Motorola Mobility. However, this purchase was quickly reversed when Google sold off ownership of Motorola to Lenovo for only $2.91 billion in 2014.

A valuation of up to $23 billion for a company that is only four years old shows investors' strong confidence in its business model and technology. However, it is still too early to talk about the success of this deal. Alphabet's acquisition of Wiz will almost certainly receive attention from antitrust regulators in the US as well as a number of other related countries, and legal troubles cannot be ruled out. At this time, neither Google nor Wiz have commented on the Wall Street Journal report.

Kareem Winters

Update 16 July 2024