The patents they received from Motorola effectively put an end to Apple's Android witch hunt.
Prior to this acquisition, Apple was determined to sue Android out of existence. They were on a rage-fueled mission to end a product they viewed as a copycat, and they knew Google didn't hold any patents to defend themselves.
When Google acquired Motorola's patents, the tables turned and it was Google that could end Apple or at least turn it into mutually assured destruction.
Those patents alone were worth a hundred billion for the headache they saved Google and the market position they opened up.
This was one of Google's smartest moves of all time.
I definitely did not consider this earlier. Do you know of some other big examples where monetary loss was actually a win when considered in an overall context?
Can’t help but predict that this will be a similar outcome. If they did not have a security division, this acquisition could work. But colliding two heavy security behemoths together is like the collision of two galaxies with a higher enteopy.
What I don't understand is how you get to a valuation of $32B. My quick googling showed me that the revenue for Wiz is about $700M. Even if I assume the existing customers + name + platform/assets is worth several billion, where is this number coming from?
To be clear: I am young and ignorant. I am trying to learn, not criticise
My estimation is that there is another competitor that they wanted to out compete ... like Facebook paid $19B for whatsapp to outcompete google. The maximum market cap Wiz had was $13.2 Billion. So Google is paying 3x times the price.
> Wiz has agreed to a termination fee of more than $3.2 billion, a source told Reuters, one of the highest fees in M&A history.
Not sure how they can afford this if it doesn't work.
