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According to this article (and many others), Apple has a massive cash pile of 137 billion. However, if I look at their Financial Statements, it shows (as of 2012-12-29) they only have 40 billion in Cash and Short Term investments and 72 billion in Total Current Assets. How do people get the number of 137 billion?

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97.3B in long term investments. That, plus the cash adds to exactly $137B. See balance sheet you linked to, further down the sheet. – JoeTaxpayer Feb 26 at 2:40
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Why on earth is this considered to be a question about Personal Finance? It should be closed if not deleted! – Dilip Sarwate Feb 26 at 3:21
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@DilipSarwate You (and the other who voted to close) are mistaken. Interpreting public company financial statements is on-topic, as it relates to investing. Individual investors should ask such questions. – Chris W. Rea♦ Feb 26 at 3:37
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"they only have 40 billion in Cash" - That phrase should never be uttered in this universe, except maybe in Zimbabwe – JohnFx Feb 26 at 4:03
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I think he is commenting on the fact that the word "only" in that sentence is just silly. – Sean W. Feb 26 at 21:25
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JoeTaxpayer's comment basically answers my question. See this link for a more detailed explanation. The article Getting Apple's Cash Right And Why It's Important was published January 2012, but makes the issue clear.

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