Just how much cash does Apple have? At the end of its fiscal first quarter, the iPhone maker had a whopping $165 billion of cash, cash equivalents, and marketable securities. Subtracting its long-term debt, the company had a net cash position of $54 billion. Believe it or not, many companies in the S&P 500 sport more debt than cash. Indeed, it's generally considered healthy for a company to run its business with a net debt-to-earnings ratio of three or less. That means that a company's debt can exceed cash and cash equivalents to the point that the net debt is up equal to three times a company's annual net income and still be considered to have a solid balance sheet. Yet Apple doesn't even have a net debt position. It has a net cash position.