Berkshire Hathaway Inc. went on a roughly $40 billion securities buying spree between Feb. 21 and March 15, but has since reverted back to its more "lethargic" pace, Chairman and CEO Warren Buffett told shareholders at the conglomerate's annual meeting Saturday.
Buffett went on to note that Berkshire still ended the first quarter with around $103 billion in cash versus around $144 billion at the end of 2021.
While there's a lot of focus on Berkshire's cash pile, Buffett said the company "will always have a lot of cash," adding that rather than commercial paper or other holdings, most of it will remain parked in highly liquid Treasury bills.
Buffett said the desire for a big cushion is because there have been a "few times in history where if you don't have it you don't get to play the next day."