Google’s $32B Wiz Acquisition Set to Become Israel’s Largest Tech Deal Ever

Google is about to write one of the biggest checks in tech history, and Israel’s startup ecosystem is about to cash it.

The tech giant is set to complete its $32 billion acquisition of Israeli cybersecurity company Wiz this week, bringing to a close one of the largest deals ever involving an Israeli technology company. First announced in March 2025, the transaction will mark the largest exit in Israel’s high-tech industry.

After undergoing regulatory reviews across several countries, the deal has now received most of the required approvals, with US regulators clearing the acquisition late last year and the European Commission also approving it without imposing restrictions. Approvals from Australia and South Africa are expected within days, paving the way for completion.

Once the deal is finalized, Wiz will be integrated into Google’s cloud division, strengthening its cybersecurity capabilities as it competes with other major cloud providers.

Regulatory approvals clear the path

Regulators in the United States ultimately determined that the acquisition would not harm competition, instead concluding that bringing Wiz into Google’s cloud ecosystem could actually strengthen competition against the dominant cloud providers in the market, being Amazon’s AWS and Microsoft’s Azure.

European regulators also approved the transaction without imposing restrictive conditions. They concluded that customers would continue to have the flexibility to switch between different cloud security vendors if needed, reducing concerns about market concentration.

Final regulatory approvals from Australia and South Africa are expected to arrive shortly, allowing the transaction to officially close this week.

Massive payouts for founders and employees

Beyond its importance for Google, the deal represents an enormous financial event for Wiz’s founders, employees, and investors.

The company was founded by Assaf Rappaport, Ami Luttwak, Yinon Costica, and Roy Reznik, all veterans of Israel’s cybersecurity industry. Each of the four founders is expected to receive roughly $3 billion from the acquisition before taxes, making them among the most successful entrepreneurs in Israel’s technology sector.

Wiz currently employs approximately 1,800 people worldwide, including about 1,000 in Israel. Many of these employees hold stock options or shares in the company, which together are estimated to be worth roughly $3 billion. This means that hundreds of employees could become millionaires when the deal closes, with several long-tenured staff members potentially earning payouts exceeding $100 million.

Google is also investing heavily in retaining Wiz’s talent after the acquisition. The company has set aside about $1.5 billion in retention bonuses, which will be paid in a combination of cash and Google shares to employees who remain with the company following the merger.

Huge returns for venture capital investors

Wiz’s success has generated massive returns for venture investors.

Cyberstarts, a cybersecurity-focused venture capital firm founded by Gili Raanan, initially backed Wiz at the seed stage and still holds an estimated 4% to 5% stake. Despite selling part of its position to Blackstone in 2021, Cyberstarts is expected to earn between $1.3 billion and $1.6 billion from the deal, representing an estimated 200-fold return on its original investment.

Other early investors include Sequoia Capital, Insight Partners, and Index Ventures, which holds about 12% of the company, and is expected to receive roughly $3.8 billion from the sale. Later funding rounds were led by Lightspeed Venture Partners and Greenoaks, with Andreessen Horowitz joining with a later-stage investment. Additional investors include Blackstone and Salesforce.

Since its founding, Wiz has raised about $1.9 billion in venture capital funding, rapidly growing its cloud security platform into a major player in the world of enterprise cybersecurity.

Economic impact in Israel

The deal’s financial impact will be significant for Google and Wiz’s investors as well as for Israel’s economy. It is estimated that the Israeli government could collect approximately 10 billion shekels, or about $3.2 billion, in tax revenue from the transaction. Most of that will come from capital gains taxes on the founders and investors, as well as taxes on employee stock payouts.

A surge of newly wealthy founders and employees may boost the local economy, potentially affecting real estate prices in high-demand areas such as Tel Aviv.

The Wiz acquisition is a strong indicator of Israel’s growing influence in cybersecurity. For Google, it represents a major bet that stronger security tools will help strengthen its position in the highly competitive cloud market.

Also read: The US labor market showed fresh signs of weakness in February, with 92,000 jobs lost and unemployment rising to 4.4%.

About Author

AndyC

Andy Curtis is an award-winning security consultant, researcher and public speaker. He has been working in the computer security industry since the early 1990s, having been employed by state and federal government, leading healthcare and banking providers across three continents. He has given talks about computer security for some of the world’s largest companies, worked with law enforcement agencies on investigations into hacking groups, and is a regular voice on TV and radio explaining IT security threats.

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