Google (GOOG, Financial) just pulled the trigger on its biggest acquisition yet—shelling out $32 billion in cash for cloud security firm Wiz. This deal, expected to close in 2026, marks a massive bet on cloud cybersecurity as businesses rush to secure their cloud environments. Wiz's tools will be folded into Google Cloud, bolstering its security offerings and fueling competition with Microsoft in the multicloud space. The move also solidifies Google's strategy of using AI to automate security, cut costs for customers, and push deeper into enterprise tech.
Wiz isn't just another acquisition—it's a rocket ship. Founded in 2020, it scaled fast, counting BMW, Salesforce, and Slack as customers while eyeing an IPO and a $1 billion revenue milestone. It even turned down a $23 billion offer from Google last year. Now, Google is bringing its AI muscle to Wiz, making its solutions more powerful while keeping them available across rival clouds like AWS and Microsoft Azure. The deal echoes Google's past big-ticket buys, including its $5.4 billion purchase of Mandiant in 2022, but at an entirely new scale.
Regulatory hurdles could still be a factor, especially with Alphabet already battling antitrust cases. But with expectations of a more deal-friendly climate under a potential Trump administration, Wall Street is optimistic. If approved, this acquisition could reshape cloud security, setting a new bar for AI-driven threat protection while positioning Google as the dominant force in safeguarding the future of enterprise computing.
