While Microsoft has long held the title as the technology firm squatting the largest mound of cash, Apple may soon give the Redmond, Wash.-based software giant a run for its money, literally.

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer’s Todd Bishop points out that Microsoft has reduced its cash balance from more than $64 billion less than four years ago to $26.3 billion this year through large stock buybacks, dividends and acquisitions.

Meanwhile, Apple over the same period has seen its spare coin surge from $5.5 billion to $19.5 billion as a result of its industry-leading growth in the personal computer market and its dominance in the digital media player sector.

“Keeping too much cash on the balance sheet can raise eyebrows among investors, who often want companies to reinvest the cash in the business or to return the money to shareholders through dividends or stock buybacks,” Bishop noted. “Investors are now watching Apple’s growing cash balance in much the same way they did Microsoft’s a few years ago.”

Cisco still sits between Microsoft and Apple with $22.7 billion in cash. Google is a somewhat distant fourth with $12.1 billion.