Four Co-Founders Set to Receive Between $2 Billion and $3 Billion Each
The transaction represents an all-cash agreement valued at approximately $32 billion. Once regulatory authorities complete their approval process, each of the four co-founders stands to receive between $2 billion and $3 billion from the sale.
The four co-founders are Assaf Rappaport, who serves as Chief Executive Officer, Yinon Kostica, who holds the position of Chief Product Officer, Ami Luttwak, the Chief Technology Officer, and Roy Reznik, who serves as Chief R&D Officer. This payment structure reflects their significant ownership stakes in the company they built.
The deal marks the largest acquisition of an Israeli firm in history. It also represents the biggest transaction that Alphabet-Google has ever completed, surpassing its previous record when it purchased Motorola Mobility in 2011 for $12.5 billion.
Prior to this transaction, the largest sale of an Israeli company was Mobileye. Intel acquired that firm in 2017 for approximately $15 billion.
Impact on Employees and Operations
The company’s 1,800 employees are expected to benefit substantially through what are anticipated to be some of the largest “sale and retention” bonuses ever distributed in Israel. Employees with longer tenure could receive payments reaching millions of dollars. Those with shorter tenures would still receive bonuses of hundreds of thousands of dollars.
The Israeli cybersecurity company is considered one of the country’s wealthiest and most stable high-tech firms. Most of its workforce is based in Israel, despite the company being registered as a United States entity with its headquarters in New York.
Sources familiar with the matter have indicated that the agreement with Google is not expected to result in workforce reductions. Instead, the cloud security platform plans to accelerate its recruitment efforts following completion of the deal.
Strategic Significance for Google
The acquisition will substantially strengthen Google’s position in cloud computing and cybersecurity. These are areas where the company currently trails behind rivals Microsoft and Amazon in terms of market share.
Google Cloud has been working to expand its presence in the cloud infrastructure market. The addition of the Israeli cybersecurity company will provide enhanced capabilities in protecting cloud-based systems and data.
Microsoft’s primary cybersecurity centre, which generates the highest revenues in the sector globally, is located in Herzliya. This facility is situated just minutes from the headquarters of the cloud security platform being acquired.
Before establishing the company, Assaf Rappaport served for five years as Chief Executive Officer of Microsoft Israel. This background provides him with deep understanding of both the cybersecurity market and the competitive landscape.
In its official statement regarding the acquisition, Google noted that “the expanding role of AI, together with the adoption of cloud services, has dramatically changed security for customers and made cybersecurity increasingly important.” This explanation underscores the strategic rationale behind the 32 billion deal.
Regulatory Approvals
The European Union’s antitrust authority has granted approval for the transaction, removing the final major obstacle to completing the deal. United States regulators had already cleared the transaction prior to the EU decision.
European regulators determined that the acquisition would not raise competition concerns. EU antitrust chief Teresa Ribera stated that “Google stands behind Amazon and Microsoft in terms of market shares in cloud infrastructure, and our assessment confirmed that customers will continue to have credible alternatives and the ability to switch providers.”
The European Commission, which functions as the EU’s antitrust enforcement body, concluded that any information Google acquires through the deal would not be commercially sensitive. Other cybersecurity software companies could also examine this information.
Whilst the EU decision represented the largest hurdle facing the deal, approvals are still required in smaller markets such as Australia and South Africa. Estimates suggest those approvals will be granted in the coming days following the EU’s decision.
In recent years, technology deals have come under heightened regulatory scrutiny. Concerns have centred on whether such transactions could entrench the market power of tech giants and shut out smaller competitors. In this case, however, the European regulator was persuaded that the acquisition would not harm fair competition.
The deal was formally announced on 18 March 2025 following lengthy negotiations. Sundar Pichai’s company has made a significant strategic bet on the rapidly growing cybersecurity sector through this acquisition.
The EU’s approval marks a significant milestone as Google seeks to bolster its position in the expanding cloud computing market. The transaction strengthens the company’s capabilities in providing cloud security services to enterprise customers.
