"Apple’s Cash Pile is Approaching $300 Billion"

From MoneyBeat:

Apple pile of cash could soon be worth more than the economy of Vietnam.

A report released Monday by Moody’s Investors Service estimates that Apple’s cash hoard will top $285 billion by the end of 2017, up 16% from a year earlier. That’s more than the annual gross-domestic product of nations including Vietnam and Chile, according to International Monetary Fund data, and twice the market value of McDonald's

Apple already has the largest cash pile of any non-financial company in history, but strong quarterly results and a recent bond sale are expected to boost its cash holdings further when the company next reports its results.

Multinationals like Apple have been building overseas cash piles for years to avoid the 35% U.S. tax rate. Offshore cash reserves are expected to rise 8% to a record $1.4 trillion by the end of 2017, according to Moody’s. A group of five tech giants–Apple, Microsoft, Cisco Systems, Alphabet and Oracle–are expected to account for more than 40% of that amount....MORE