CEO neuroticism and corporate cash holdings: Evidence from CEOs’ tweets

We examine the effects of CEO neuroticism on corporate policies for cash holdings. After hand collecting tweets by CEOs to measure their neuroticism, we find that firms with relatively neurotic CEOs hold more cash than other firms. This positive effect is more pronounced when the firm has a higher precautionary motive to hold cash. The cash held by firms with neurotic CEOs leads to higher firm values and lower credit risks. Overall, neurotic CEOs maintain more conservative corporate policies on holding cash, resulting in a lower cost of financial distress and an improvement in the value of firms.