Minister of the Economy Naftali Bennett once received an offer to run Waze Ltd., but turned it down. The offer was made several years ago, but he chose to focus on a political career.
Bennett, who already had one exit under his belt, in which he made millions of dollars, missed the current exit, which apparently has a bigger payout, at least financially, than his current job.
Bennett's big high-tech job was at Cyota, where he was a co-founder and CEO. Cyota was sold to RSA for $145 million in 2005, and Bennett went looking for a new career. It is hard to estimate exactly how much he made on Cyota's sale, but since the company had several financing rounds in which the founders' holdings were diluted, it can be assumed that he did not plan on taking early retirement.
Bennett could have benefited from the exit by founding another start-up, but chose another path. In 2006, he was appointed as chief of staff to then-head of the opposition MK Benjamin Netanyahu. 17 months later, their relationship fell apart, reportedly because of tensions between Bennet and Sarah Netanyahu. In 2009, Bennet returned to high tech to manage Soluto Ltd.
Waze was founded at that time, and the approach to Bennett to serve as its CEO may have been made then. Bennett left Soluto after a few months to return to politics, as chairman of the Yesha Council. He left two years later and was elected as head of the Habayit Hayehudi (Jewish Home) party, and now serves as a cabinet minister.
Benett's office confirmed this report, "Minister of the Economy Naftali Bennett was offered the job of Waze CEO after the company he owned was sold but he preferred to devote himself to public life."
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on June 10, 2013
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