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Is Apple richer than the US govt?

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CIOL Bureau
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BANGALORE, INDIA: If some latest reports from the American media on a purported statement by the US Treasury are anything to go by, Apple Inc. has more cash than the US government.

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"According to the latest daily statement from the US Treasury, the government had an operating cash balance of $73.8 billion at the end of the day yesterday. Apple's last earnings report showed that the company had $76.2 billion in cash and marketable securities at the end of June, (sic)" said a report by Business Insider.

In other words, the world's largest tech company has more cash than the world's largest sovereign government, the report added, before taking a dig at the latter, stating, "That's because Apple collects more money than it spends, while the US government does not."

While it's highly unlikely that President Barack Obama is looking to ask the founder and chief executive of Apple Inc. for a loan, wrote Matt Hartley in Financial Post, "It became a fact as of Thursday afternoon — the world's largest technology company now has more cash on hand than the most powerful democracy on Earth has spending room."

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As Republicans and Democrats continue to work towards a compromise to the country's debt ceiling crisis, the US Treasury Department said on Thursday that Washington now has a total operating balance of only US$73.768 billion, Hartley pointed out.

Fox Business's Matt Egan went a step further by playing the prediction game, as he wrote, "Apple's cash stockpile is growing and may soon cross over $100 billion as it continues to smash records. At the end of last quarter, cash and marketable securities were up 15.8 per cent quarter-over-quarter and by 66.2 per cent from a year earlier." (sic)

"Of course, the numbers aren't directly comparable," said Hartley in his article, "The government's number represents how much financial headroom it has before bumping up against an arbitrary debt ceiling, while Apple's cash reserve represents the pile of money the Cupterino, California-based company has available on its balance sheet." (sic)

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