TLDR
- Palo Alto Networks CEO Nikesh Arora held acquisition talks with Okta between late 2024 and early 2025, but talks broke down over price.
- Arora also approached Datadog CEO Olivier Pomel in spring 2025, but Pomel was not interested and no formal offer was made.
- Palo Alto went on to acquire CyberArk for $25 billion in July 2025 and Chronosphere for $3.35 billion in January 2026.
- Those two deals contributed $338 million to the $3 billion in revenue Palo Alto generated in the April quarter.
- Arora is now reportedly eyeing Cribl, valued at $3.5 billion, and ClickHouse, valued at $15 billion, as potential targets.
Palo Alto Networks (PANW) CEO Nikesh Arora held talks to acquire both Okta and Datadog before they fell through, according to a report from The Information published Wednesday.
Palo Alto Networks, Inc., PANW
Between late 2024 and early 2025, Arora met several times with Okta CEO Todd McKinnon. The two companies discussed how their products could work together, but the conversations stalled over price disagreements.
Okta was valued at around $13.5 billion at the start of last year. It has since risen roughly 30%, giving it a market cap near $23 billion.
In spring 2025, Arora approached Datadog CEO Olivier Pomel with the idea of a deal. At the time, Datadog was publicly valued at more than $40 billion. Pomel was not interested, and no formal offer was ever made.
Since then, Datadog’s market cap has roughly doubled to more than $80 billion. That kind of price tag makes any future deal far less likely.
The Deals That Did Happen
With Okta and Datadog off the table, Palo Alto moved in two other directions. In July 2025, it agreed to acquire CyberArk for $25 billion. Then in January 2026, the company paid $3.35 billion for Chronosphere, a log data and observability platform that competes with Datadog.
Together, the two acquisitions contributed $338 million of the $3 billion in revenue Palo Alto reported for the April quarter.
Palo Alto stock was down 0.38% on Wednesday, trading at $338.60. Datadog rose 2.95% on the news, while Okta fell 1.12%.
A Palo Alto spokesperson said the company does not comment on “rumors or speculation.” Spokespeople for Datadog and Okta did not comment.
What Arora Is Looking at Next
The M&A engine does not appear to be slowing down. Arora is now reportedly evaluating companies that complement Chronosphere’s capabilities.
Cribl, a data management startup valued at $3.5 billion, is one name on his radar. ClickHouse, a database company that raised money at a $15 billion valuation in January 2026, is another.
Arora is also said to be looking at deals in the AI security space. The thinking is that AI tools are changing how cyberattacks are carried out, making continuous monitoring a higher priority for enterprises.
Chronosphere, which trades under the ticker CHRN, was down 4.64% on Wednesday.
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