Udi Mokady, the founder of CyberArk, says he never wanted to sell the company, but ultimately decided that the $25 billion sale to Palo Alto Networks served shareholders, customers, and employees. In his first magazine interview since the deal, he described the merger as both a professional triumph and a personal loss after 27 years with the company he co-founded in 1999 with Alon Cohen.
Mokady said the sale was driven in part by artificial intelligence, which made identity security far more important. CyberArk, he said, offers identity and privilege management, while Palo Alto brings network, endpoint, and cloud security, allowing the combined company to offer a broader platform. He also said Palo Alto was the right buyer because it was ambitious, successful, and understood the importance of Israel. The deal was signed in late July 2025 after discussions that began in late April, when he initially pushed for a partnership instead of a sale.
He recalled hearing about the leak to The Wall Street Journal while sitting in a Boston boardroom with the CEO and CFO, and said they stayed there for about 2.5 hours to avoid lying to employees or the media. After the transaction closed in February 2026, Palo Alto cut about 500 CyberArk employees, roughly 10% of the workforce. Mokady said that hurt him, even though he understood the scale of the merger.
Now living in Brookline near Boston, Mokady says he is spending more time playing guitar, mentoring younger founders, investing in roughly 20 companies, and serving on the board of the Israeli-American Council. He said he may build another company someday, but added, “Never say never,” after learning not to rule anything out.
