Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK.A) (NYSE: BRK.B) recently released its annual report, revealing that the conglomerate holding company held a record high of $168 billion in cash and cash equivalents at the end of 2023. With that staggering amount of cash, many investors may question how Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Warren Buffett might put it to work. Lucky for us, Buffett outlined why he is hoarding the cash in his annual letter to shareholders.

Let's look at how Berkshire built its unprecedented cash hoard, what the company currently does with its cash, and what it might take for Buffett to deploy it meaningfully.

Buffett's preferred metric for Berkshire's success is operating earnings -- a measurement of a company's profit from its core operations after expenses. In 2023, Berkshire generated $37.4 billion in operating earnings, an increase of 21% from $30.9 billion in 2022.

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Source Fool.com