Reports emerged that Alphabet was in advanced talks to acquire cloud-security startup Wiz — a deal that would ultimately be signed in 2025 at roughly $32 billion in cash, among the largest cybersecurity acquisitions in history. Wiz had earlier walked away to pursue an IPO before returning to the table.

Founded in 2020 by a team of Israeli veterans, Wiz had scaled to a $500 million revenue run-rate faster than almost any software company on record, riding enterprise urgency around securing sprawling multi-cloud environments.

The price tag reset expectations for security exits and signaled that, even in a disciplined market, the biggest platforms would pay enormous premiums to own the control points of cloud infrastructure. For founders, Wiz became the new benchmark for what category leadership could be worth.