Google Didn’t Buy Wiz. It Bought Time.

Google just closed its $32 billion acquisition of Wiz.

On paper, it’s a cybersecurity deal.

In reality, it’s a time deal.

Google could have built a competing cloud security platform internally. It has the engineers. It has the capital. It has the infrastructure.

What it doesn’t have is unlimited runway in the cloud wars.

Cloud computing isn’t a static market. It’s a race between three giants: Google, Amazon, and Microsoft.

In enterprise sales cycles, trust is everything. Security is not an add-on. It’s the gatekeeper.

Wiz became one of the fastest-growing cloud security platforms because it solved a pressing problem for enterprises: how to monitor and secure sprawling multi-cloud environments without friction.

If Google had chosen to build instead of buy, it wouldn’t just be building software. It would be waiting:

In high-velocity markets, two to three years is an eternity.

A $32 billion price tag begins to look different when measured against the revenue lost by moving too slowly.

Large companies often default to internal development. It preserves control. It avoids integration risk. It keeps the balance sheet cleaner.

But building takes time.

And time, in competitive markets, is the most expensive input of all.

Google didn’t buy Wiz because it lacked capability. It bought Wiz because it wanted acceleration.

Acceleration does three things:

Strategic buyers pay premiums for acceleration when the alternative is gradual erosion.

Most business owners wrestle with this at a smaller scale.

Should you hire and train internally?
Should you partner?
Should you acquire?

The wrong comparison is “Can we build this?”

The right comparison is “What does delay cost us?”

In Google’s case, delay might mean:

Those risks compound faster than development timelines shrink.

From the outside, $32 billion feels aggressive.

But strategic pricing isn’t about present revenue. It’s about future positioning.

If Wiz strengthens Google Cloud’s competitive standing even modestly, the acquisition can justify itself through:

Sometimes the acquisition multiple reflects not the target’s revenue — but the acquirer’s urgency.

The cloud market remains fiercely competitive, with hyperscale providers investing heavily in AI, infrastructure, and security to differentiate their ecosystems.

Cybersecurity, in particular, has shifted from a support function to a board-level priority. As AI expands attack surfaces and regulatory scrutiny intensifies, security platforms have become strategic assets rather than optional tools.

In that environment, building slowly can be more expensive than buying decisively.

Google didn’t buy Wiz because it couldn’t build a competitor.

It bought Wiz because it didn’t want to wait.

Speed is an asset. Momentum is an asset. Market position is an asset.

And in markets that move this quickly, the most expensive mistake isn’t overpaying.

It’s hesitating.

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