True -- although in that hypothetical situation, there'd be a lot of pressure to raise the dividend. Investors don't want to have money in such a cash-heavy com

True -- although in that hypothetical situation, there'd be a lot of pressure to raise the dividend. Investors don't want to have money in such a cash-heavy company, because it's like investing in a mutual fund that takes half your money and sticks it under a mattress. Even if they do good things with the other half of your money (like Apple does) you're halving your potential return right off the bat. Cash in the bank is useful when you need liquidity (unprofitable, danger of recession, potential acquisitions, etc) but $500B is still too high for any of those needs.