Note: this story was originally published on InvestorPlace less than 72 hours before Microsoft announced its $26 billion buyout of LinkedIn.
Collectively, Apple Inc. (AAPL), Microsoft Corporation (MSFT) andAlphabet Inc (GOOGL, GOOG) have a staggering $391.4 billion in cash on their balance sheets. If the latest market rumors have any truth to them, the three companies each have some big plans for that cash in the near future.
Apple (AAPL)
With $215.7 billion in cash on its books at last count, AAPL has more than twice as much cash as any other public U.S. company. Incredibly, AAPL now single-handedly accounts for 12.8% of total U.S. corporate cash!
If the latest reports on AAPL are true, the company may soon need a big chunk of that cash. In the face of potential iPhone market saturation, AAPL may choose to look to the M&A market for its next long-term growth source.
According to the Financial Times, AAPL senior vice president Eddie Cue brought up the possibility of AAPL buying Time Warner Inc (TWX) late in 2015 during a meeting with TWX head of corporate strategy Olaf Olafsson.
Although the discussion reportedly didn’t make it beyond the preliminary stages, AAPL’s interest in TWX (and its $58 billion market cap) sheds some major light on AAPL’s strategy to potentially acquire a large media company.
Although it seems like an AAPL/TWX may no longer be on the table, the Financial Times speculated that Walt Disney Co (DIS) could be another good fit for AAPL. DIS’s $157 billion market cap would be too expensive for almost any other company, but AAPL can pull the trigger at that price if it chooses.
Others have speculated that Netflix, Inc. (NFLX) would be a better fit for AAPL at only $40 billion. Either way, AAPL seems internally interested in expanding its media presence in the near future.
Microsoft (MSFT)
With $102.6 billion in cash on its books, MSFT is…
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