• Google completes its largest-ever acquisition at $32 billion for cloud security platform Wiz, according to Index Ventures partner Shardul Shah speaking to TechCrunch

  • The deal is 2.5x larger than Google’s previous record – the $12.5B Motorola purchase – and marks the biggest enterprise security acquisition in tech history

  • Wiz brings real-time cloud security scanning across AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud, positioning Google to compete with Microsoft’s security dominance

  • Shah reveals how the four-year-old startup’s rapid growth to unicorn status made it an irresistible target for Google’s cloud ambitions

Google just closed the biggest acquisition in its history, and the tech industry is still processing the shockwaves. The $32 billion purchase of cloud security startup Wiz – confirmed today through exclusive insights from Index Ventures partner Shardul Shah – eclipses Google’s previous record of $12.5 billion for Motorola Mobility back in 2012. The deal signals Google Cloud’s aggressive push to dominate enterprise security as AI workloads explode across every industry.

Google didn’t just buy a cybersecurity company. It bought a shortcut to enterprise trust, and it paid a historic premium to get there. The $32 billion acquisition of Wiz – detailed today by early investor Shardul Shah of Index Ventures in an exclusive TechCrunch podcast – represents the search giant’s boldest bet yet that cloud security is the key to unlocking Google Cloud’s potential against Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure.

The numbers tell a compelling story. Wiz was founded just four years ago by a team of former Microsoft security executives, yet managed to reach a $12 billion private valuation before this deal closed. Shah walked through the startup’s meteoric rise, explaining how Wiz’s ability to scan entire cloud environments in real-time – finding vulnerabilities across AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud simultaneously – created a product that enterprises couldn’t ignore. “Every CISO we talked to had the same problem,” Shah told the podcast. “They were blind to what was actually running in their cloud.”