Apple Inc. came under attack Thursday from an influential investor for its practice of stockpiling cash. Its hoard totaled $137 billion at the end of last year, and it keeps growing.

Corporations normally don’t hoard cash the way Apple does. They keep enough around for immediate needs, and either invest the rest in their operations or dole it out to shareholders in the form of dividends or stock buybacks. If they need more cash for, say, an acquisition, they borrow it.

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