The tech world took a major double take this year when a security startup called Wiz founded out of Israel just four years earlier became the subject of a record-breaking, $23 billion acquisition attempt by Google — an offer the startup boldly proceeded … to refuse.
Really? Yes, really.
We will be talking to Assaf Rappaport, Wiz’s CEO and co-founder, on the Disrupt Stage at TechCrunch Disrupt 2024, taking place at Moscone West in San Francisco from October 28-30, to ask him all the big questions about this, and more: Why did Rappaport walk away from the deal? What is next for Wiz? Breaches are a total nightmare: Can we ever fix cybersecurity once and for all? And what’s the secret to his success?
Wiz may right now be known most for being the startup that said no to Google, but its real standout is that it is not your average cloud security provider.
There is no high watermark for data breaches or malicious network activity these days: Incidents just keep growing in number and impact. And Wiz has emerged as a go-to, all-in-one platform for businesses of all sizes looking for a better defense profile. In a field heavy with competition, Wiz has been growing like a weed.
And Wiz’s leader, Assaf Rappaport, is not your average founder.
With a background heavy in academics and military intelligence, Rappaport has an uncanny ability to see what is coming around the corner before others do, and he has figured out how to harness his expertise into tools that just work to address that.
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Join 10k+ tech and VC leaders for growth and connections at Disrupt 2025
Netflix, Box, a16z, ElevenLabs, Wayve, Sequoia Capital, Elad Gil — just some of the 250+ heavy hitters leading 200+ sessions designed to deliver the insights that fuel startup growth and sharpen your edge. Don’t miss the 20th anniversary of TechCrunch, and a chance to learn from the top voices in tech. Grab your ticket before Sept 26 to save up to $668.
San Francisco | October 27-29, 2025 REGISTER NOWRappaport also happens to have a track record beyond his current business that proves this out. Before starting Wiz, he founded and sold his previous security startup to Microsoft. That became the basis of the company’s whole cloud security business.
With Rappaport still only at the relative start of his career, and Wiz still going strong, there are more chapters yet to be written in this story.
Get your Disrupt ticket to hear alongside 10,000 other startup and VC leaders more about what makes cybersecurity, Wiz, and Rappaport tick. Register your pass before prices increase at the door.