Berkshire Hathaway’s (BRK.B) (BRK.A) balance sheet just hit another historic milestone. As of March 31, 2025, the conglomerate led by Chairman and CEO Warren Buffett now holds $347 billion in highly liquid assets — a combination of $28.3 billion in cash and cash equivalents and a staggering $314.1 billion in short-term U.S. Treasury bills, alongside $5.3 billion in cash from its regulated businesses like BNSF and Berkshire Hathaway Energy.

This total — quietly detailed in the firm’s just-released Q1 2025 consolidated balance sheet — underscores not only the company’s legendary conservatism but also the scale at which Berkshire now operates, effectively functioning more like a sovereign wealth fund than a traditional holding company.

Buffett’s company isn’t just sitting on cash; it’s effectively shaping liquidity in the U.S. financial system.

What Could $347 Billion Buy?

Buffett is famously cautious, often saying he’s waiting for the right pitch before deploying capital. But if he wanted to put his $347 billion cash pile to work today, the possibilities are staggering:

• It’s larger than the GDP of over 100 countries, including Finland, Portugal, and the Czech Republic. Put another way, Buffett’s cash pile is worth the annual GDP of about 2 Ukraines, or roughly 10 El Salvadors.
• Berkshire could purchase over 95% of the companies in the S&P 500 Index ($SPX). Of the 503 companies currently in the S&P 500, there are only 24 that he couldn’t purchase outright with cash and still have money left over, based on market cap. This includes buying the entirety of Bank of America ($311 billion), nearly 3 BlackRocks ($144.63 billion),  4.5 Airbnbs ($78.5 billion), 10 Kraft Heinzes ($33.77 billion) or 24 Best Buys ($14.5 billion).
• Berkshire controls more short-term Treasuries than the U.S. Federal Reserve, which holds roughly $195 billion in T-bills — making Buffett’s conglomerate the largest non-government holder of short-term U.S. debt.

Why Hold So Much? Buffett’s Philosophy in Practice

The size of Berkshire’s cash hoard isn’t just about caution; it reflects Buffett’s investing discipline. As he put it at the May 2025 shareholders meeting, “The one problem with the investment business is that things don't come along in an orderly fashion and they never will. We're running a business which is very, very, very opportunistic.”

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This opportunism is backed by restraint. Buffett emphasized that “we have made a lot of money by not wanting to be fully invested at all times.” The message is clear: rather than chase speculative valuations or compete in overheated markets, Berkshire is content to sit on capital until valuations come back to earth.

Short-term Treasury bills, yielding roughly 4.36%, offer the firm a risk-free return while it waits — an attractive option amid market volatility and geopolitical uncertainty. And the firm’s increasingly outsized presence in the T-bill market also gives it structural flexibility; should dislocations arise, Berkshire can redeploy capital instantly and in size.

Still Waiting for the “Extraordinarily Attractive” Opportunity

Despite pressure from analysts and media to act more aggressively, Buffett remains unbothered. “Things get extraordinarily attractive very occasionally,” he told shareholders. The implication is that Berkshire’s war chest isn’t a sign of indecision — it’s a reflection of patience.

Buffett’s late partner Charlie Munger once suggested they should do just “five big things” in a lifetime rather than 50 small ones. That ethos still governs Berkshire’s capital strategy. Deploying cash at scale means waiting for dislocation, disruption, or opportunity — and making large, calculated moves when others can’t.

The Takeaway: The Power of Patience

Berkshire Hathaway’s $347 billion in cash and equivalents is not just a financial statistic — it’s a manifestation of Buffett’s investment philosophy. It reflects a belief in discipline over activity, patience over urgency, and opportunity over allocation quotas.

While other firms race to deploy capital into AI trends, private equity, or emerging markets, Berkshire is taking a different route: building optionality, quietly holding more T-bills than the Fed, and preparing for the day when that “extraordinarily attractive” opportunity finally arrives.

Until then, the biggest pile of dry powder in modern financial history just keeps growing.