Alphabet Inc. CEO Sundar Pichai attends Stanford University’s 2024 Business, Government & Society Forum on April 3, 2024 in Stanford, California.
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Google Amazon is in talks to buy cybersecurity company Wizz for $23 billion, The Wall Street Journal reported Sunday, citing people familiar with the matter.
A person familiar with the matter told The Wall Street Journal that a deal could be finalized soon.
Wiz was founded in 2020 and has grown rapidly under CEO Assaf Rapaport. The company was considering an IPO when it hit a $12 billion valuation in May.
A representative for Wiz declined to comment.
Wiz’s cloud security services provide executives and cybersecurity professionals with insights into their entire cloud presence, which appeals to large enterprises with vast computing resources. The service is backed by top-tier firms including Israeli venture capital firm Cyberstarts, Index Ventures, Insight Partners and Sequoia Capital.
If the deal goes through, it would be Google’s largest acquisition to date and underscore a clear and ongoing bet on cybersecurity at a time when nation states and criminals are disrupting governments and large organizations. Google is no stranger to big cybersecurity acquisitions, having bought cybersecurity company Mandiant for $5.4 billion two years ago.
But the company is currently facing an unprecedented level of antitrust scrutiny: The Department of Justice has sued Google twice for antitrust violations, and the company’s acquisition practices were highlighted in the latest lawsuit filed in 2023.
But the reported talks with Wizz suggest the company has a new appetite for M&A despite competitive concerns. CNBC previously reported that Google was in talks to buy sales software maker HubSpot, but those efforts have reportedly cooled.
Google did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
