Wiz’s decision to decline Google’s acquisition offer has significant consequences for the tech industry, particularly for Microsoft.
Google’s proposed $23 billion purchase of Israeli cybersecurity startup Wiz has fallen through, as Wiz CEO Assaf Rappaport chose to reject the offer to focus on reaching $1 billion in annual revenue and pursuing an IPO. This decision came shortly after a substantial outage caused by cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike, which affected many in the industry.
Wedbush analyst Dan Ives noted that investor apprehensions and ongoing antitrust concerns led to the collapse of the deal. Google has faced scrutiny over antitrust issues and recently concluded a major trial with the Department of Justice. Ives predicted that the failure of the Wiz acquisition would create ripple effects across the tech sector, indicating that Google would likely continue to enhance its cybersecurity operations even without the Wiz deal.
In light of these developments, Ives also suggested that Microsoft might look to strengthen its own cybersecurity capabilities over the next 12 to 18 months, especially following the recent disruption linked to CrowdStrike’s software update. This incident highlighted potential vulnerabilities in Microsoft’s cybersecurity measures, prompting calls for improvement. Despite the outage, Ives maintains that CrowdStrike remains a leader in the cybersecurity realm, but the situation signals an urgent need for Microsoft to bolster its cybersecurity portfolio.