Wheeler-Deeler

Alex Bouaziz’s HR company became the fastest-growing software startup in Silicon Valley history by promising to take the pain out of overseas hiring. But in its rush to a $12 billion valuation, regulators worry it may have been cutting the very compliance corners it’s supposedly maintaining.

- Kenrick Cai

It’s a sweltering September day in Washington, D.C., and Deel CEO Alex Bouaziz has a pressing question for his staffers, who are packed tightly into a nondescript gray sedan driving around Capitol Hill.

“What is the one thing I really need to know about U.S. politics before meeting all these congressmen and congresswomen?” the 30-year-old Frenchman asks from the back seat. “I really don’t want to look too stupid.”

One executive is quick to offer up a truism, a minor variation on “money is everything.” But Bouaziz already knows that. Deel, his San Francisco-based startup, has been challenging the recondite world of international labor law compliance since launching in 2019, splashing around its $675 million pile of VC cash to help other companies handle legal and HR operations in 100-plus countries. In a land grab reminiscent of Uber and Lyft’s early city-by-city showdowns, Deel has been scrambling to grow as fast as possible-even if that means exploiting gray areas or allowing clients to bend a regulation or two.

“We are pushing borders in terms of global hiring,” Bouaziz says. “It’s not something people are used to.”