Leave it to Steve Jobs to make $25 billion sound like rainy day money.

On Thursday, Apple's visionary CEO pooh-poohed the suggestions of those who think the company should buy back shares or pay a dividend, saying he prefers to hold on to that cash for acquisitions and investments.

But given Apple's history of deal making under Jobs, he might as well have said, "Our shares are up 135 percent since the beginning of last year alone, so shut up about the cash."

Remember how Steve Jobs avoided problems over backdated options a few years ago? Less well known, perhaps, is the fact that his CFO did not, even though the backdating benefited Jobs above all.

Well, a new study finds that no one should be surprised at this. Reason: CEOs who are founders, like Jobs, tend to scapegoat their CFOs more often than do chief executives brought in from the outside.

BusinessWeek has a story asking, "Is Apple Ready for Merger Mania? " As a sign that it might be, the article points out that last year Steve Jobs and Co. hired a Goldman Sachs investment banker, Adrian Perica, to help it with deal making.

No doubt the acquisition wheels have sped up at Apple: Three of the 11 deals done under Jobs' leadership have come in the past five months, including the largest since his return, the $275 million purchase of Quattro Wireless.