Alphabet completed the $32 billion acquisition of Wiz on March 11, 2026. This purchase is the largest acquisition in the history of Google. The transaction follows a rejected $23 billion offer from 2024. While the initial headline value reached $32 billion, Alphabet’s SEC filing reports the finalized purchase price was $29.5 billion. This transaction concludes a 12-month regulatory marathon.
Rapid growth and revenue metrics
Wiz grew from $1 million to $100 million in annual recurring revenue in 18 months. This growth occurred between February 2021 and July 2022. The company reached $200 million in revenue by May 2023. It reached $350 million by February 2024 and $500 million by October 2024. By the close of the deal in March 2026, Wiz surpassed $1 billion in annual recurring revenue.
The founding team includes Assaf Rappaport, Yinon Costica, Roy Reznik, and Ami Luttwak. These founders previously built Adallom and sold it to Microsoft in 2015 for $320 million. Assaf Rappaport led a team of over 450 engineers at Microsoft working on cloud security. That experience helped the founders build an agentless, API-driven platform. As of 2025, Wiz employed around 1,800 people. By November 2024, the company had approximately 1,995 employees.
Rejection of the 2024 $23 billion bid
Wiz rejected a $23 billion takeover attempt in July 2024. Assaf Rappaport sent a memo to the 1,200 employees at the time. He stated the company would focus on an initial public offering instead. The decision to walk away from the 2024 offer came because the company weighed antitrust and investor concerns. The negotiation was revived in early 2025 when Google increased the offer.
The 2024 rejection was a bold move by the founders. The $23 billion offer was nearly double the $12 billion valuation of the company from its most recent funding round in May 2024. That funding round included participation from Andreessen Horowitz, Lightspeed Venture Partners, and Thrive Capital. The founders believed their trajectory justified pursuing an IPO. They aimed to reach $1 billion in annual recurring revenue before going public.
Regulatory clearance in the US and Europe
The regulatory process spanned a full year of scrutiny. US regulators examined the deal throughout late 2025. The European Commission conducted a separate probe throughout early 2026. Both authorities looked at whether a single provider could control the cloud security market. The approval came without any forced divestitures or behavioral remedies.
The United States Department of Justice cleared the acquisition in November 2025. Assaf Rappaport confirmed this clearance on November 5, 2025. The European Commission granted unconditional antitrust approval in February 2026. This decision came after the Commission concluded that the combination would not substantially weaken competition in the cybersecurity or cloud computing markets. The deal included a $3.2 billion break-up fee that Google would pay if the transaction failed.
Strategic goals for Google Cloud
Google Cloud revenue reached $17.66 billion in the fourth quarter of 2025. This figure grew from $11.96 billion in the fourth quarter of 2024. Google aims to close the gap with Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure. AWS holds 31% of the global cloud infrastructure market and Microsoft Azure holds 25%. Google Cloud holds 12% of the market. Security is a primary differentiator for cloud providers.
The acquisition helps Google compete in the artificial intelligence era. Security is a deciding factor in large enterprise deals. Google frames the combined offering as an AI-powered cybersecurity platform. This platform pairs Google Threat Intelligence and Mandiant’s security operations with Wiz’s cloud protection. As generative AI increases the speed of attacks, defenders need automation to match that speed. Google Cloud chief Thomas Kurian argues that security will decide the cloud wars.
Product capabilities and the AI shift
Wiz uses an agentless approach to scan cloud environments. The platform analyzes Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud Platform, Oracle Cloud Infrastructure, and Kubernetes. It scans infrastructure to identify vulnerabilities and misconfigurations. The platform connects code, cloud, and runtime into a single context. This allows security teams to see a prioritized risk graph within hours.
Wiz is expanding its platform to include AI security. The AI-SPM module scans for exposed AI models and unsecured training data. It also protects AI workloads at runtime. This capability helps organizations manage the new attack surfaces created by generative AI. The platform works across the entire application lifecycle. It helps companies prevent risk during development and runtime.
| Feature | Wiz | Orca Security | Palo Alto (Cortex Cloud) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing Model | Module-based | Per-workload | Credit-based |
| Primary Method | Agentless and Runtime | Agentless-first | Agent-based |
| Key Strength | Market share leader | Deployment speed | Ecosystem integration |
Comparison of CNAPP solutions
Cloud security posture management has consolidated into cloud-native application protection platforms. Wiz, Orca Security, and Palo Alto Networks’ Cortex Cloud all compete in this category. You should evaluate these differences before selecting a provider.
Orca Security uses an agentless-first model. It scans virtual machine disks and container images without deploying software on every workload. This approach reduces deployment time for teams that do not want agents on every workload. Wiz also uses an agentless approach for posture and exposure discovery. It then adds runtime modules like Wiz Defend for live detection.
Palo Alto Networks offers the Cortex Cloud platform. This platform is for organizations that already use Palo Alto firewalls or Cortex XSIAM. It uses an agent-based approach for runtime protection. This provides process-level visibility inside containers and virtual machines. This method is harder to manage than agentless scanning but it catches in-memory attacks.
Pricing varies between these vendors. Wiz uses a module-based pricing structure. It has separate line items for Wiz Defend, Wiz Code, and AI-SPM. Orca Security uses a per-workload model. This model is more transparent but requires a full asset inventory to calculate costs. Cortex Cloud uses a credit-based model. This model can be difficult to estimate because credits map to different resource types.
Market integration and customer retention
Wiz will join Google Cloud while it maintains its brand. Google committed to supporting all major clouds, including AWS and Azure. This commitment is intended to reassure customers who use multi-cloud strategies. Major customers of Wiz include LVMH, Siemens, BMW, Shell, and Revolut.
The integration combines Wiz’s visibility with Google’s security operations. Google’s security portfolio includes Google Threat Intelligence and Mandiant. Google Threat Intelligence provides actionable intelligence to help security teams. Mandiant provides frontline expertise for incident response. The combined platform aims to detect, prevent, and respond to threats across all environments.
Will the integration of Wiz into Google Cloud truly maintain the neutrality that original customers expected?
Wiz remains a leader in the cloud security market. Its acquisition by Google changes the competitive map against Microsoft and Amazon. Google can now provide a unified security platform to enterprise customers. This platform helps users manage complexity across hybrid and multi-cloud environments. Security professionals can use the platform to automate vulnerability management and protect AI workloads.
