Berkshire Hathaway is sitting on almost $280 billion in cash after slashing its Apple stake in half

• Berkshire Hathaway's cash stockpile has soared to nearly $280 billion.
• The conglomerate sold off nearly half of its huge stake in Apple last quarter.
• Warren Buffett, 93, plans to donate much of his fortune to charities after his death.

Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway is sitting on a whole lot of cash after repeatedly slashing its stake in Apple.

Berkshire Hathaway made the eyebrow-raising decision to cut its Apple stake, which remains the largest stake in its portfolio, by nearly 50% last quarter.

That means the Omaha-based conglomerate is not luxuriating in a record-high pile of cash worth $276.9 billion, the company said in earnings filings on Saturday.

Buffett, 93, has been on a selling streak recently.

He initially slashed Berkshire Hathaway's Apple stake by 13% in the first quarter, suggesting it was for tax purposes and noting that selling off "a little Apple" could be good for Berkshire's shareholders in the long run.

Berkshire Hathaway has also cut its stake in Bank of America, which is its largest after Apple. The company also largely held off on new acquisitions in the second quarter.

Buffett, who is among the richest billionaires in the world, announced in recent months that he plans to distribute his estimated $130 billion fortune to charities after his death.

"It should be used to help the people that haven't been as lucky as we have been," Buffett said at the time.