The planned $23 billion deal for Google to acquire the privately-held cybersecurity start-up Wiz is off the table, bringing an end to what would have been the biggest acquisition in history.
In a memo to Wiz employees on June 22, the company’s CEO said that Wiz was rejecting the deal and would instead seek to go public on a stock exchange.
Wiz CEO Assaf Rappaport told staff that the company would continue pursuing its goals of a public offering and generating $1 billion in annual recurring revenue. He said while the company was “flattered” by the offers it has received to acquire Wiz, he decided that the company would “continue on our path to building Wiz.”
The $23 billion deal with Google was nearly double the $12 billion valuation of Wiz from its recent round of funding.
Founded in 2020, Wiz has grown rapidly with Rappaport at the helm, hitting $100 million in recurring annual revenue after just 18 months in business. In 2023, Wiz’s revenue reached $350 million.
The company’s cloud security products, which include active detention and response, as well as prevention, made its portfolio appealing to Google and would have enabled the tech giant to compete with Microsoft’s security software.
Alphabet’s cloud computing segment, which has been facing stiff competition from Amazon and Microsoft, only reached profitability last year.
In his memo, Rappaport said the attention Wiz received after the news emerged about the possible deal with Google was one reason he decided to continue building the company independently rather than selling it.
He said the market validation following the news only reinforced the company’s goal of creating a platform that is loved by “both security and development teams.”
Google’s largest acquisition to date is the 2012 purchase of Motorola Mobility for $12.5 billion. The tech giant sold the company at a loss just two years later.
