Berkshire Hathaway Inc.’s record cash pile shouldn’t burn a hole in Warren Buffett’s pocket anytime soon, said board member Susan Decker.
“I don’t think there’s any pressure in the next several years to be returning that cash,” Decker said in an interview Wednesday with Caroline Hyde that’s airing on Bloomberg Television. “Investors will be tolerant of short periods of time where the cash builds up before the next big deal.”
Berkshire had almost $85 billion on its books at the end of September, fueling speculation about what Buffett, the company’s longtime chairman and chief executive officer, will buy next. Over the past five decades, he’s built the Omaha, Nebraska-based company into a sprawling conglomerate through dozens of acquisitions. It has subsidiaries that range from Dairy Queen to NetJets.
Some of those businesses generate more cash than they need, while others — like railroad BNSF -- require large capital outlays, said Decker, a former executive at Yahoo! Inc. That combination gives Berkshire a huge advantage in redeploying resources in a tax-efficient manner, she said.
Even so, the cash has piled up faster than Berkshire has been able to spend it effectively, at times sparking investor calls for a dividend. Buffett has resisted that push, saying that his acquisitions and stock picks will benefit shareholders more over the long term.