We've followed the cash holdings of the largest US companies for some time now. Back in 2011 we claimed these holdings exacerbated the Great Recession, and then analyzed those balances. We updated this analysis most recently last year.

It's time once again to see who leads big companies in hoarding cash. Our update comes after the Federal Reserve last week provided its economy-wide estimate of corporate cash. It reports that as of the end of 2014, US non-financial businesses held $1.7 trillion of cash and other liquid assets, level with year-end 2013 and up from $1.3 trillion when we first looked in 2011.

The ten companies with the largest cash and liquid asset balances account for $629 billion, or a little more than one-third of the US total. If we adjust these balances for debt, these balances become $370 billion, or over 20% of the US total. 

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