Alphabet is closing in on a $23 billion deal to buy cybersecurity startup Wiz: WSJ

Google HQ in Mountain View, California.

Google’s Alphabet is closing in on a deal to purchase Wiz, a four-year-old cloud cybersecurity startup, for about $23 billion, sources familiar with the talks told The Wall Street Journal.

The sources said that the search engine giant is in advanced talks to buy the company, and a deal is imminent, assuming those talks don’t fall apart.

According to The New York Times, Wiz will be Google’s largest acquisition if the purchase goes through.b

Spokespeople for Google and Wiz did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Founded in March 2020, Wiz is a startup that offers security for companies that utilize cloud storage providers such as Amazon Web Services.

In less than a year, the startup was evaluated at $1.7 billion and soon secured investments from Salesforce, Blackstone, and Algae, making Wiz one of the fastest-growing startups at the time, B-17 previously reported.

But Alphabet’s potential acquisition of Wiz comes at a time of great antitrust scrutiny from the Biden administration.

The Justice Department sued Google in 2020, accusing the search engine giant of monopolization. A verdict on the yearslong, landmark trial is expected later this year.