Some businesses need ready cash, the insurance business most obviously. But after those, what is all the cash for? If he’s right and there are no more elephants, it can’t be for that.

Why would anyone suggest they are no longer interested in elephants? They are. And that's what the cash is for, at around the same scale (relative to the size of the firm) as always.

We have been told not to expect returns that shoot the lights out. Fair enough. But they can still be above average. I think some very large investments are still in the firm's future...and at least, certainly in the firm's plans for the future.

The business model won't provide the returns it did in the past because of scale, but the business model per se isn't broken: Always have buying power at hand. Buy reliable profitable businesses at reasonable prices when the opportunity arises. Once they throw off some cash, buy more reliable profitable businesses at reasonable prices. Repeat.

Jim