Last week, tech giant and Google parent Alphabet inc. agreed to a $32 billion acquisition of Wiz, a cybersecurity startup.1 The signing marks the largest deal ever for a venture-backed startup, but for market watchers, it is also a signal that tech M&A is back from the dead. As the new Trump administration has brings change to the regulatory environment, much of the pressure that stifled dealmaking in recent years is starting to ease.
Under the previous administration, fears of antitrust scrutiny—led by FTC Chair Lina Khan—kept many major tech firms from pursuing large acquisitions. In fact, Wiz initially rejected a US$23 billion offer from Google last year, in part due to regulatory concerns.2 But with Khan out and Republican appointee Andrew Ferguson now at the helm, optimism is growing that mergers will face a more predictable and business-friendly review process.3 That optimism is visible in the numbers. In just the first quarter of this year, there have been 11-billion-dollar startup sales, totalling more than US$54 billion – a sharp contrast to the drought of the past two years.4
For Google, the acquisition of Wiz is a strategic move in its ongoing battle for cloud dominance against Amazon’s AWS and Microsoft’s Azure. Wiz specializes in cloud-native cybersecurity that operates across all major platforms, and by integrating it into Google Cloud, Google not only strengthens its security offerings but also positions itself as a more trustworthy partner—especially at a time when AI and data privacy risks are rapidly converging.
Although the deal is now signed, it may still attract regulatory scrutiny, given Google’s ongoing antitrust challenges. For market watchers, it serves as a high-profile test case for how far the new regulatory tone will extend. If the deal proceeds without major hurdles, it could spark a new wave of tech acquisitions, reshaping industry growth strategies in 2025 and beyond. Indeed, the Wiz deal isn’t just important for its record-breaking price tag. It may very well mark a turning point in how tech giants move forward in the new regulatory era.
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