The Biggest Exit In Israeli High-tech History: Google Parent Company Will Acquire Wiz For $33 Billion

By Ynet
Posted on 03/18/25 | News Source: Ynet

Eight months after negotiations between the two companies collapsed, Alphabet, Google’s parent company, is expected to announce within hours its acquisition of Israeli cybersecurity giant Wiz in a deal valued at approximately $33 billion — $10 billion more than was discussed during their previous round of talks.This is set to be the largest acquisition ever of an Israeli company and Alphabet's largest acquisition to date. Until now, the biggest exit for an Israeli company was Intel’s $15 billion purchase of Mobileye in 2017. Alphabet’s largest previous acquisition was Motorola Mobility in 2011 for $12.5 billion.

The deal, which will be in cash, is pending regulatory approval. Once finalized, each of Wiz’s four founders—CEO Assaf Rappaport, Chief Product Officer Yinon Costica, Chief Technology Officer Ami Luttwak, and Chief R&D Officer Roy Reznik—stands to earn between $2 billion and $3 billion. Wiz’s 1,800 employees are also expected to benefit significantly from the acquisition through "sale and retention" bonuses, reportedly some of the highest ever awarded in Israel. Senior employees could receive payouts worth millions, while junior employees are expected to receive hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Wiz is considered one of Israel’s most valuable and stable high-tech companies. Just last week, the company held an extravagant Purim party featuring Israel’s top performers, with an estimated budget of 15 million shekels. Sources close to the company say the deal with Google will not lead to cutbacks; rather, Wiz plans to increase its hiring. It currently has around 100 open positions.

What changed since last summer?

According to the terms of the deal, Wiz will remain an independent division within Alphabet, similar to LinkedIn’s structure under Microsoft. The company’s headquarters will stay in Israel, and CEO Assaf Rappaport has agreed to remain in his role for at least three more years. Wiz will continue to work with Google’s direct competitors in the cloud space.

So what has changed since July 2023, when Wiz rejected Alphabet’s earlier $23 billion offer, declaring its ambitions to become a $100 billion public company? Back then, Rappaport publicly stated his goal was to build a major, publicly traded cybersecurity firm capable of competing with the world’s largest players. Wiz even hired its first CFO two months ago, in preparation for a potential IPO.