DOJ Must Block Court-Declared Monopolist Google’s $32 Billion Power Grab for Wiz
Washington, D.C. — In response to news that Google is acquiring world’s largest cybersecurity unicorn Wiz for $32 billion—the most expensive acquisition by far in the serially-acquisitive company’s history—along with reporting that Google will have to pay a termination fee of $3.2 billion if the deal doesn’t go through, the American Economic Liberties Project released the following statement.
“Google continues to exist on a parallel timeline where it isn’t facing imminent judgment by federal and state courts to break up its monopoly grip on the tech industry,” said Lee Hepner, Senior Legal Counsel at the American Economic Liberties Project. ”Once again, Google is drawing on its limitless resources to seize a choke point in the market for cloud-based cybersecurity services, one of the fastest growing segments in the tech industry. The most likely outcome will be a less secure internet for businesses of all sizes and every end user. Meanwhile, Google will wield Wiz to bend the future of cloud computing to its own rules.”
“Wiz’s executives seem to have priced in the likelihood that this merger will fail with a staggering ‘break up’ fee, and we tend to agree that this merger will not pass muster with the administration’s new crop of antitrust enforcers,” added Hepner.
Wiz has achieved success by offering a cross-platform cybersecurity service to various businesses and consultancies that integrates with six of the top 10 cloud computing services worldwide, including Amazon Web Services, Alibaba Cloud, Google Cloud, Oracle Cloud Infrastructure, Microsoft Azure and Dell VMWare. Wiz is one of the fastest growing companies of all time—after reaching $100 million annual recurring revenue just 18 months after its 2020 launch, it today boasts annual recurring revenues of $500 million. Wiz’s clients including 40% of Fortune 100 companies – including LVMH, Slack, Docusign, Morgan Stanley, and IHG Hotels & Resorts – and the U.S. Navy. If Google’s acquisition of Wiz is approved, Google will be buying its way into a leading position in a key avenue of the booming cloud cybersecurity market.
Google has acquired over 250 companies since 2003, including high-profile acquisitions of YouTube, DoubleClick, and Android. In December 2023, a jury found Google had violated federal antitrust laws in the market for app distribution and in-app payments on Android devices. Google is facing federal antitrust lawsuits alleging illegal monopolization of internet search, search advertising, and digital advertising.
Learn more about Economic Liberties here.
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The American Economic Liberties Project works to ensure America’s system of commerce is structured to advance, rather than undermine, economic liberty, fair commerce, and a secure, inclusive democracy. Economic Liberties believes true economic liberty means entrepreneurs and businesses large and small succeed on the merits of their ideas and hard work; commerce empowers consumers, workers, farmers, and engineers instead of subjecting them to discrimination and abuse from financiers and monopolists; foreign trade arrangements support domestic security and democracy; and wealth is broadly distributed to support equitable political power.