Wall Street Breakfast Podcast: Google Reportedly Near $23B Wiz Purchase

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Google’s (GOOG) (GOOGL) biggest acquisition: plans to buy cybersecurity startup Wiz for $23B – report. (00:29) Trump Media (DJT) skyrockets 70% as markets reopen following assassination attempt. (01:39) Smithfield Foods (OTCPK:WHGLY) to be listed on U.S. exchange, Chinese parent says. (02:33)

This is an abridged transcript of the podcast.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) (NASDAQ:GOOGL) is in advanced talks to buy cybersecurity startup Wiz for ~$23B.

The Wall Street Journal reported citing people familiar with the matter that a deal might be reached soon, provided negotiations don’t fall apart.

This would mark Google’s (GOOG) largest acquisition so far.

Wiz was founded in Israel in 2020 and is now headquartered in New York, led by chief executive Assaf Rappaport. The cybersecurity startup provides cloud security services with real-time threat detection and responses powered by artificial intelligence.

The report said Wiz raised $1B earlier this year at a valuation of $12B and was considering going public. It had $350M in annual recurring revenue in 2023 and is backed by prominent Silicon Valley venture capitalists.

The acquisition of Wiz could boost Google’s (GOOG) cloud computing business, which currently lags Amazon (AMZN) Web Services and Microsoft (MSFT).

In March 2022, Google (GOOG) bought cybersecurity firm Mandiant for $5.4B in an all-cash deal.

Financial markets are reopening following an assassination attempt on Donald Trump at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday.

Trump Media & Technology (NASDAQ:DJT), which is known for its meme qualities and can follow Trump-related developments, is up 63% in premarket action.

A bullet that grazed the former president’s ear, and could have had a very different result, is still making headlines, amid calls for unity to bring the country together.

The shooting also came before the Republican National Convention – which runs from today through Thursday. The convention kicks off in Milwaukee, with many analysts weighing in on what the recent spate of events can mean for investors.

WH Group (OTCPK:WHGRF) (OTCPK:WHGLY), the Chinese parent of Smithfield Foods, on Sunday said it plans to float the pork producer’s business in the United States and Mexico on the New York Stock Exchange or Nasdaq.

The plan for a public offering was submitted to the Hong Kong stock exchange, where WH Group (OTCPK:WHGRF) (OTCPK:WHGLY) is listed.

Smithfield is the largest pork producer in the U.S., slaughtering about 30 million hogs a year.

WH Group (OTCPK:WHGRF) (OTCPK:WHGLY) in 2013 bought Smithfield for $4.7 billion, one of the biggest takeovers of an American business by a Chinese company at the time. As a result, Smithfield was delisted from the NYSE.