Warren Buffett would have spent $100 billion on the right deal, said cash is 'not a good asset'

"Buffett, who recently stepped down as Berkshire's CEO after more than 50 years in the role, said he couldn't find any stocks or businesses that were attractively valued and large enough to move the needle at his $1 trillion conglomerate. Berkshire was only "buying one or two things, but it's peanuts," he said. "But I'm willing to spend $100 billion this afternoon," Buffett said, adding that he'd "rather have $100 billion in a really good business model at a sensible price than have $100 billion in cash.""

"Buffett said that holding some cash was necessary, comparing it to "oxygen" and saying you "always need to have it available because you do not know what will happen." But he said that "cash is not a good asset." Buffett is known for preferring to own productive assets such as businesses that generate profits and can pay dividends, instead of assets that don't produce anything, such as gold and bitcoin, or cash, which depreciates in value as prices rise."

Warren Buffett preferred deploying Berkshire Hathaway's cash into large, attractively priced businesses rather than holding oversized cash balances. He could not find stocks or businesses both attractively valued and large enough to move the needle for a $1 trillion conglomerate and said he would have been willing to spend $100 billion on the right opportunity. Berkshire's cash rose above $300 billion in 2024 and exceeded $350 billion in the third quarter. Buffett compared cash to oxygen—necessary to have available—but called cash not a good asset and favored owning productive companies that generate profits and dividends.

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