Wiz’s decision to reject a $23 billion acquisition offer from Google could have significant repercussions for the tech industry, especially for Microsoft. The Israeli cybersecurity startup, which had been in discussions to be acquired by Google, opted to continue its independent growth strategy aimed at reaching $1 billion in annual revenue and preparing for an initial public offering.
The planned acquisition was seen as a move to enhance Google’s cybersecurity capabilities, particularly following a recent major outage linked to CrowdStrike, which raised concerns across the sector. Wedbush analyst Dan Ives suggested that investor apprehension and ongoing antitrust issues contributed to the collapse of the deal. Google has faced increasing regulatory scrutiny and has recently concluded a major antitrust trial with the Department of Justice.
Ives indicated that the failure of the Wiz acquisition could lead to broader repercussions in the cybersecurity sector, with Google likely to intensify its efforts to expand in this area. He also pointed out that Microsoft, facing its own challenges highlighted by the recent CrowdStrike outage affecting its systems, may seek to strengthen its cybersecurity offerings in the coming months.
The CrowdStrike incident, which caused widespread disruption across multiple sectors, underscores the ongoing need for robust cybersecurity solutions. Despite Ives referring to CrowdStrike as the “gold standard” in the field, the recent issues have raised questions about the adequacy of current cybersecurity measures, potentially accelerating Microsoft’s efforts to enhance its own capabilities in this critical area.