The Savings of Corporate Giants.

This article examines how the largest nonfinancial U.S. corporations manage their financial assets, revealing that over the past two decades, marketable securities—especially corporate bonds—have grown to rival or exceed cash-like instruments in their portfolios. Using a novel panel data set manually collected from firms’ annual reports between 2000 and 2021, the study finds that the accumulation of marketable securities is primarily driven by cross-border tax incentives, while cash-like holdings respond mainly to liquidity needs, as evidenced by portfolio shifts following the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and the 2020 COVID-19 liquidity crisis. The research highlights the concentration of financial assets among tech and pharmaceutical firms and discusses potential risks from increased bond holdings, such as exposure to interest rate fluctuations. These findings contribute detailed insights into corporate financial asset management, with implications for taxation, regulation, and macroeconomic trends.