American private equity firm buys Israeli spyware company Paragon

AE Industrial Partners has acquired Israeli spyware maker Paragon, with Israeli outlets reporting an initial price of $450–$500 million and potential growth to $900 million, including significant payouts to employees, founders, and investors such as Battery Ventures. Paragon, founded by former Israeli intelligence officers and operating via U.S. subsidiary Paragon Solutions, develops the Graphite spyware—reportedly capable of pulling data from cloud backups and accessing encrypted platforms like Signal and WhatsApp—and has previously secured U.S. government contracts, including with ICE and reported use by the DEA.