Berkshire, against its own record $365.5B. Patience, or a problem?
Berkshire’s own filings, read two ways. Switch readings; the data doesn’t change. Greg Abel became chief executive in January 2026 8-K/A.
Two readings of the same filings
The figures, quarter by quarter
Read it as a problem
$365.5B
Cash and T-bills at the end of Q2 2026, from the 10-Q: the 4th largest of the 47 period-end figures in this record, which runs from 2009 (year ends) and Q3 2016 (quarters). The largest was $397.4B, Q1 2026.
Across the 14 quarters of net selling, Q4 2022 to Q1 2026, the figure went from $128.6B to $397.4B.
A fat wallet, however, is the enemy of superior investment results.
Read it as discipline
6 of 14
Quarters with no buybacks of Berkshire stock, in the 14 quarters of net selling, Q4 2022 to Q1 2026.
Over the same quarters, the value of the 13F holdings went from $299.0B to $263.1B (−12%).
In no way do we think that Berkshire shares should be repurchased at simply any price.
The letters argue both. They have for 48 years.
Put the money to work, or keep it and wait for the price. Both cases, in the same voice, decades apart, with what Berkshire did underneath. Select a passage.
Put the money to work
Keep the cash, wait for the price
What Berkshire did · cash and T-bills at period end
Keep the cash, wait for the price · 1987 letter · Conditional
If we find the right sort of business elephant within the next five years or so, the wait will have been worthwhile.
Since the succession
Cash and T-bills at quarter end, Q3 2023 to Q2 2026
The argument continues. Which lane does Q2 2026 follow?
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Keep the cash, wait for the price · 1987 letter · Conditional
If we find the right sort of business elephant within the next five years or so, the wait will have been worthwhile.
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Put the money to work · 1994 letter · Claim
A fat wallet, however, is the enemy of superior investment results.
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Keep the cash, wait for the price · 1996 letter · Claim
Inactivity strikes us as intelligent behavior.
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Put the money to work · 1997 letter · Claim
That makes them savers. They should therefore rejoice when markets decline and allow both us and our investees to deploy funds more advantageously.
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Put the money to work · 2003 letter · Conditional
So when one tells you that increased funds won’t hurt his investment performance, step back: His nose is about to grow.
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Put the money to work · 2003 letter · Conditional
If stocks become significantly cheaper than entire businesses, we will buy them aggressively.
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Keep the cash, wait for the price · 2003 letter · Claim
It’s a painful condition to be in – but not as painful as doing something stupid.
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Put the money to work · 2010 letter · Example
That’s what allowed us to invest $15.6 billion in 25 days of panic following the Lehman bankruptcy in 2008.
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Put the money to work · 2011 letter · Example
We heard “cash is king” in late 2008, just when cash should have been deployed rather than held.
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Put the money to work · 2011 letter · Conditional
If you are going to be a net buyer of stocks in the future, either directly with your own money or indirectly (through your ownership of a company that is repurchasing shares), you are hurt when stocks rise.
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Keep the cash, wait for the price · 2014 letter · Claim
When bills come due, only cash is legal tender.
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Keep the cash, wait for the price · 2014 letter · Claim
Cash, though, is to a business as oxygen is to an individual: never thought about when it is present, the only thing in mind when it is absent.
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Put the money to work · 2017 letter · Conditional
Our smiles will broaden when we have redeployed Berkshire’s excess funds into more productive assets.
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Keep the cash, wait for the price · 2018 letter · Claim
having pledged to always hold at least $20 billion in cash equivalents to guard against external calamities
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Keep the cash, wait for the price · 2020 letter · Claim
In no way do we think that Berkshire shares should be repurchased at simply any price.
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Keep the cash, wait for the price · 2022 letter · Claim
Berkshire will always hold a boatload of cash and U.S. Treasury bills along with a wide array of businesses
The ledger
Cash and T-bills
At quarter end
A fat wallet, however, is the enemy of superior investment results.
Net stock buying
Equities bought less sold
We heard “cash is king” in late 2008, just when cash should have been deployed rather than held.
Buybacks
Berkshire stock repurchased
In no way do we think that Berkshire shares should be repurchased at simply any price.
Concentration
Top five holdings' share of the 13F
a policy of portfolio concentration may well decrease risk if it raises, as it should, both the intensity with which an investor thinks about a business
Ask the record
Have a question the ledger does not answer? The same 48 letters answer any question, quoted word for word and linked to the source.
Filings
- Q2 2026, against the record
- Q1 2026, against the record
- Landmarks before the succession: 2024, 2020, 2022, 2016, 2011, 2008