Buffett Has Never Held This Much Cash

Chart of the Week #50

Warren Buffett has been called many things over his legendary investing career — the Oracle of Omaha, the Sage of Omaha, the world's greatest investor.

(I could think of a couple less flattering labels too — not being the biggest fan of the guy’s elitist tendencies.)

But these days, he might be earning a new title: America’s biggest cash hoarder.

If you look at this week’s chart below, you’ll see that Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.B) is now sitting on a mind-boggling $334 billion in cash. That’s more than triple the $109 billion it held back in 2022.

Berkshire’s been quietly building its war chest for years. But Buffett’s pace of cash hoarding has shifted into a whole new gear since 2022. Much of that $334 billion pile has come together just in the past year (we’ll get to how in a moment) — a staggering buildup, even by Buffett’s standards.

All in all, Berkshire now holds more cash than the GDP of countries like Finland, Portugal, or Greece. If Buffett's cash hoard were a company itself, it would rank among the top 20 in the S&P 500 by market cap.

So, why is Buffett hoarding all this cash?

To answer this question, it’s worth remembering Buffett’s two most famous investing rules:

• Rule #1: Never lose money.

• Rule #2: Never forget rule #1.

Now, Buffett may be famously tight-lipped about where he thinks the market’s headed — but he doesn’t need to say much. When the world’s most famous value investor is sitting on a $334 billion cash pile, the message is pretty clear: he’s not buying because there’s not much worth buying.

In fact, quite the opposite. He’s been cashing out like never before.

Last year alone, Warren Buffett unloaded a staggering $143 billion worth of stocks — trimming his giant Apple (AAPL) stake, almost completely exiting Bank of America (BAC), and selling down Chevron (CVX), among others. His total purchases for the year? Just $9.2 billion.

But there’s another side to this story.

Buffett’s not just hoarding cash for the sake of it. What he’s doing is building optionality — preparing to pounce when everyone else is forced to sell.

In other words, he’s probably waiting for something big. And no — I don’t mean the little wobble we saw last week. I mean real, blood-in-the-streets kind of opportunities. Or maybe even something more serious.

Have a great rest of the weekend,

Lau Vegys

P.S. Speaking of serious things — Matt Smith has been making a compelling case that Trump’s team could be preparing for a major monetary reset… something that could fundamentally reshape the financial system in ways we haven’t seen in generations (definitely worth a read if you haven’t seen it yet).

Would Buffett really want to be sitting on $334 billion in cash if that was about to happen?

Maybe not forever. But if there’s a window — even a brief one — where panic selling takes over and world-class assets go on sale… that’s exactly when Buffett strikes. It’s how he’s always played it.

After all, in any monetary reset — whether it’s Nixon closing the gold window in the 70s or the Plaza Accord in the 80s — there’s usually a moment of chaos before inflation kicks in… a moment when cash gives you the power to buy the world on sale.

Remember: cash is trash… eventually.

But at the start?

Cash is king. Especially when you’ve got $334 billion of it.

Have a great rest of the weekend,

Lau Vegys