Moody’s reports that S&P 500 companies have nearly $3 trillion in overseas cash, led by five companies:  Apple, Microsoft, Cisco, Google, and Oracle.  Apple alone has nearly #300 billion cash in offshore banks and Apple’s total is growing nearly $50 billion annually.  Nearly 90 percent of the cash on Apple’s balance sheet is held in offshore banks.  If the federal government carries through on a proposed 10 percent repatriation tax , this bring-back would give Apple nearly $30 billion for acquisitions or stock buybacks.  Similarly, Cisco has nearly $60 billion in cash overseas and, if the 10 percent proposed tax goes into effect, is reported to be interested in acquiring Splunk and/or Palo Alto Networks (p. 267,a).

Source:  Based on:  Patrick Seitz, “Apple, Microsoft, Cisco Have Most Overseas Cash”, Investor’s Business Daily, May 29, 2017, p. A7.