From its early days, Israeli-founded cloud security startup Wiz has broken records, becoming the fastest-growing company in the world and completing a billion-dollar funding round, the highest in the local industry’s history.
Now, according to a Wall Street Journal report, it might be on the verge of being acquired by Google’s parent company Alphabet for $23 billion. This would be the highest amount ever offered for an Israeli company and the largest deal in Google’s history, surpassing Mobileye's sale to Intel in 2017 for $15.3 billion.
Seven years later, the record for the largest exit deal in Israel may rise to $23 billion, and the timing has significant implications for the Israeli high-tech industry. It would restore Israel’s reputation in the eyes of foreign investors thanks to Google’s vote of confidence after two years of political upheaval and war, and flow funds to Israeli shareholders and employees.
Wiz is registered as an American company with about 900 employees, some of whom are based in the U.S. During the judicial overhaul protests, CEO Assaf Rappaport led a clear stance against the reform, declaring the company would transfer its business accounts abroad amid the overhaul, leaving in Israel only funds for routine operations like salaries.
Some may attempt to draw a line between Wiz’s exclusive success and the health and strength of Israel’s high-tech sector, which has received positive signals despite warnings and concerns from entrepreneurs and investors about capital flight and industry downtrends.
Rappaport might not enjoy serving the “all is well” narrative with the news of the acquisition. Not to mention calls from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu or Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich now seeking to offer their congratulations.
Some of Wiz’s founders – including Rappaport, Ami Luttwak, Roy Reznik, and Yinon Costica – shared business ventures in the past, with their starting point being the IDF’s Military Intelligence Directorate’s Unit 81.
Rappaport, Luttwak, and Reznik co-founded Adallom in 2012, which was sold to Microsoft for $320 million, leading Rappaport to become head of the corporation’s cloud security division. In 2018, at just 34, he became the head of research and development at Microsoft, managing 1,500 employees.
The dream of building a giant company began to take shape, and in 2020 he embarked on the journey with Wiz, aiming to go all the way and build a public company potentially surpassing the rival Palo Alto Networks, founded by Israeli Nir Zuk, which is valued at $108 billion.
What will remain of these aspirations in the face of Google’s fantastic offer and the pressure from investors, most of whom are part of the largest Silicon Valley funds? Even if the company accepts the acquisition offer and makes the “halfway” journey to becoming a large public company, Wiz has already left its mark.