One pile, two lines
The consolidated balance sheet in the report published on 8 August carries the reserve on two lines. Short-term investments in US Treasury bills stood at 324.9 billion dollars on 30 June and 321.4 billion dollars at the end of 2025. Cash and cash equivalents came to 35.1 billion dollars, where the same line held 47.7 billion dollars six months earlier. Read together with the railroad and energy cash, the two items add up to 365.5 billion dollars against 373.3 billion dollars six months earlier.[1]
A footnote changes the arithmetic. Bills maturing within three months sit inside the cash line, and that component came to 3.2 billion dollars where it held 17.6 billion dollars six months earlier. Add it back and the whole bill holding fell by about 10.9 billion dollars over the six months, while the cash that is not a bill rose by about 3.1 billion dollars. The line that looks like spending mostly shows a reclassification between two forms of the same reserve.[1]
What the reserve bought
The deployment shows up in the cash flow statement. Over the six months Berkshire bought 39.4 billion dollars of equity securities, sold 27.8 billion dollars, paid 9.7 billion dollars for businesses and generated 21.7 billion dollars from operating activities. In the second quarter alone the amount spent on its own shares was 4.5 billion dollars.[1]
This is where the monetary point sits. When a non-bank holds bills, its cash stops being a deposit claim on a bank and becomes a direct claim on the state; turning that into equities passes the bill to another holder and moves a deposit, and the quantity of money in the system stays where it was. On 6 August this column argued that the Treasury loads the quarter's financing variation onto bills; the 328.1 billion dollars of bills at Berkshire is the same market seen from the holder's side.[1], [2]
What the next report separates
The next quarterly report tests that split. If the cash and bill total keeps falling faster than operating cash flow refills it, the deployment reading strengthens. If the total settles near where operating activities leave it, this half-year stands as a rotation between two forms of near-money. When Berkshire files for the third quarter, the single figure to watch is the sum of the cash line and the Treasury bill line.[1]