Buffett’s Berkshire Cash Hits $382 Billion, Earnings Soar (1)

Berkshire Hathaway Inc.’s cash pile soared to $381.7 billion in the third quarter, a fresh record, and operating earnings surged 34% at Chief Executive Officer Warren Buffett’s conglomerate.

That figure hit $13.5 billion, as the firm’s insurance underwriting profit more than tripled in a period marked by unusually low disaster activity, according to filings published Saturday.

Warren Buffett

Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg

Earlier this year, Buffett appeared to be back on the hunt for deals, with the acquisition of a $1.6 billion stake in UnitedHealth Group Inc. and a $9.7 billion deal to buy OxyChem last month. But the famed billionaire remained ...