“And now I turn the floor over to Assaf Rappaport.”
Israel is a formidable exit machine, but never has a local entrepreneur had the chance to participate in a conference call alongside Google CEO Sundar Pichai moments after he signed a $32 billion check in cash. On Tuesday, Google officially announced the acquisition of Wiz in a deal unprecedented in the Israeli economy—more than double what Intel paid to acquire Mobileye in 2017, almost 30 times Google’s purchase of Waze in 2013, and 100 times what Assaf Rappaport and his team received exactly a decade ago from Microsoft for Adallom, the first cybersecurity company they founded after completing their service in the IDF.
Moreover, this is the largest acquisition of a venture capital-backed company, overtaking Facebook’s $19 billion purchase of WhatsApp in 2014.
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Google CEO Sundar Pichai (left) and Wiz CEO Assaf Rappaport.
(Photo: Netanel Tobias, AFP)
Wiz was founded just five years ago by Assaf Rappaport, who serves as CEO; Yinon Costica, VP of Product; Ami Luttwak, VP of Technology; and Roy Reznik, VP of Development. Because Wiz is a relatively young company, founded during the COVID-19 pandemic, and has always been in high demand among investors, its founders have retained a significant equity stake. Each of them—now in their early 40s—owns slightly less than 10% of Wiz and is expected to walk away with approximately $3 billion before taxes. Although Wiz’s intellectual property and corporate registration are not based in Israel, its founders are Israeli.
If the astronomical deal size wasn’t enough, Wiz’s 1,800 employees will receive a total retention bonus of $1.5 billion in cash, in addition to the company stock they hold, which will be converted into Google shares. About half of Wiz’s workforce—primarily long-tenured employees—is based in Israel, and many are expected to receive millions of dollars each. This will inject an unusual surge of cash into the local ecosystem. The immediate effects may be seen in increased spending on restaurants, luxury cars, and real estate, but the long-term impact is more significant—talented individuals who no longer need to work for financial reasons are more likely to take risks and launch new startups. In five to seven years, it will be interesting to see how many former Wiz employees have founded their own companies, fueling Israel’s high-tech sector, which continues to thrive despite government policies that some view as hostile to the industry.
Wiz has been an outlier in every respect. It achieved a $100 million annual revenue run rate within just 18 months—one of the fastest-growing software companies in history. By last summer, when negotiations with Google began, its revenue run rate had surged to $500 million, and by the end of 2025, it is expected to reach $1 billion. Its valuation has followed suit—Wiz became a unicorn in record time, reaching a $1.7 billion valuation just one year after its founding. By its last funding round in 2024, its valuation had soared to $12 billion. Now, Google is acquiring it for nearly three times that amount.
So, what makes Wiz worth $32 billion in cash to Google? It’s not just what Wiz has, but more importantly, what Google lacks. While Google’s cloud business (GCP) has been growing rapidly—from $9 billion in 2019 to $43 billion in 2024—it has failed to surpass Microsoft, which entered the cloud market at around the same time. Today, Google holds the third-largest market share (12%), trailing Amazon’s roughly 33% and Microsoft’s 20%. Microsoft’s cloud dominance is not just due to its deep presence in enterprise computing but also its massive cybersecurity business, which generates billions of dollars annually—an industry it bolstered with the acquisition of Adallom, Rappaport’s previous company.
Now, Google intends to integrate Wiz’s CNAPP (Cloud-Native Application Protection Platform) solutions into every cloud deal it signs. Wiz’s key advantage is the simplicity of its security platform, which protects all assets connected to the corporate cloud and prevents cyber incidents. Today, half of Fortune 100 companies use Wiz’s cloud security solutions, as do numerous governments and startups. Wiz is a true cloud-native company—the first and largest of its kind.
While competitors like Palo Alto Networks also have a strong presence in cloud security, their roots are in legacy firewall technology, leading some to compare their approach to “putting a DVD in the cloud and calling it Netflix.”
The acquisition is not just about revenue—it’s about making Google’s cloud platform more attractive. During yesterday’s conference call, Rappaport was joined by Pichai, Google CFO Anat Ashkenazi, and Thomas Kurian, who heads Google Cloud. Kurian was the driving force behind the deal, persistently courting Wiz even after the company rejected an initial $23 billion offer last year. Google’s determination, despite fluctuations in negotiations, signaled a strategic commitment to integrating Wiz into its cloud business—$10 billion more or less did not change the equation.
Of course, the political climate also played a role. The victory of Donald Trump and the departure of FTC Chair Lina Khan helped clear a regulatory path for the acquisition. However, sources close to the deal suggest this was more of a concern for Wiz, which wanted to avoid regulatory limbo, than for Google. Even now, the acquisition still faces regulatory hurdles, and Google has stated that it does not expect the deal to close before 2026—an unusually long timeline. Until then, Wiz will continue operating as an independent company and proceeding with its existing plans, including constructing a new office tower in Tel Aviv’s Sarona district.
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Wiz founders.
(Photo: Avishag Shaar-Yashuv)
Google’s rationale is clear, but the question remains: what made Wiz’s leadership change course? The difference between a $23 billion and a $32 billion offer is massive, but it’s not the only factor. Just months ago, Rappaport had made bold statements about Wiz’s commitment to an IPO and its vision of becoming a $100 billion company.
The real explanation is more complex. In recent months, Wiz appeared to be preparing for an IPO—it even hired a CFO for the first time. But was it the CFO who realized that even at a $500 million revenue run rate, Wiz was still unprofitable? The company likely faced a difficult choice: slow down its growth to achieve profitability or accept a lower IPO valuation. Given the current IPO market—made even more uncertain by Trump’s policy shifts—going public may not have been the optimal path.
Wiz’s main challenge has always been that, despite its success, it remains a largely single-product company. The market is shifting toward broader cybersecurity platforms, and Wiz has started following this trend with acquisitions, such as its recent $450 million purchase of Dazz. However, this was not the transformative deal that would have positioned Wiz alongside cybersecurity giants in terms of revenue.
Another noteworthy aspect of Wiz’s trajectory is the absence of Israeli venture capital funds among its major investors. Over the years, Wiz has raised nearly $2 billion—half of it in its 2024 round—from global powerhouses like Sequoia, Andreessen Horowitz, Index Ventures, Lightspeed, and Insight Partners. The only Israeli VC with a stake in Wiz is Gili Raanan’s Cyberstarts. While Israeli funds are not necessarily driven by nationalism, they often play a role in fostering local tech growth. A similar pattern is unfolding with companies like Eon and Kela, which receive massive backing from foreign investors while largely bypassing Israeli VCs.
The founders of Wiz are focused on one thing: their independence within Google. Insiders say they’ve witnessed too many acquisitions that began with celebratory signings and ended in disappointment, with founders sidelined and products shelved. For example, Noam Bardin, who led Waze post-acquisition, ultimately left Google with a scathing critique of its corporate culture.
This brings us to the biggest question surrounding the Google-Wiz deal: how independent will Wiz remain? While comparisons have been drawn to Microsoft’s hands-off approach with LinkedIn, Google’s announcement yesterday suggests otherwise. Wiz will operate independently until the deal closes, after which it will be merged into Google Cloud. This means its financial results will be folded into Google’s overall cloud business, making it difficult to track Wiz’s individual performance. Additionally, Rappaport will likely report to Kurian rather than directly to Pichai, and no specific leadership role for him within Google has been defined—raising concerns about the fate of Wiz’s leadership post-acquisition.
Ultimately, Wiz’s success within Google will be determined not just by its integration, but by the response of its competitors—Microsoft and Amazon. While Google claims Wiz will continue selling its solutions to all cloud providers, it’s hard to imagine Microsoft and Amazon willingly contributing to Google’s growth. The coming months will reveal whether Wiz’s $32 billion exit remains a triumphant success—or becomes just another historic acquisition with an uncertain future.
