Berkshire Hathaway's Cash Pile: An Ominous Sign?

In the past year, Berkshire Hathaway has repeatedly made headlines by selling a lot of shares, particularly by reducing its stake in Apple, and building a huge cash pile. Many investors interpreted this move as a sign of bad things to come. After all, if Warren Buffett, genius investor, is stockpiling cash, something must be amiss. Is he expecting a recession? A major stock market crash? A capital gains tax hike? The airwaves, the financial press and social media were rife with speculation. And yet, thus far, the big crash has yet to come.

As our chart shows, Berkshire Hathaway has in fact more than doubled its cash position since the end of 2023. By the end of March 2025, the company held almost $350 billion in cash and cash equivalents and short-term Treasury bonds. At the same time, the company reduced its holdings of equity securities, e.g. common stock, from $354 billion to $264 billion.

In his annual letter to shareholders, Buffett addressed his company’s growing cash pile, dismissing fears that it might be an ominous sign. “Despite what some commentators currently view as an extraordinary cash position at Berkshire, the great majority of your money remains in equities,” Buffett wrote, adding that the value of the company’s controlled equities, i.e. the many companies it wholly owns or controls, increased. “Berkshire shareholders can rest assured that we will forever deploy a substantial majority of their money in equities,” he added, saying that the company would always prefer ownership of good companies, whether controlled or partially owned, over cash-equivalent assets.