Three US companies are hoarding the most cash

Apple was reportedly considering buying media giant Time-Warner late last year, which would've given it a huge content business including media brands like CNN and HBO. It also would've cost at least $60 billion, which is Time-Warner's current market capitalization.

But Apple could easily have afforded it with plenty of money left over. As this chart from Statista shows, Apple had more than $200 billion in cash and marketable securities at the end of 2015, more than any other U.S. company. A lot of other tech companies also have billions stashed away, including Microsoft, Google, Cisco, and Oracle.

Most of this cash is stored overseas, and buying a US company like Time-Warner could have meant a pretty big tax bill, but there's no question that Apple could make huge splashy acquisitions like this if it wants to.

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Statista