(That is the Warren Buffett Watch e-newsletter, information and evaluation on all issues Warren Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway. You possibly can enroll right here to obtain it each Friday night in your inbox.)
Todd Combs’ shock departure from Berkshire Hathaway obtained many of the consideration when it was introduced this week.
There have been additionally, nevertheless, a number of further personnel modifications in Monday’s three-page information launch that sign the corporate is transferring towards a extra typical construction as Warren Buffett prepares to switch his CEO title to Greg Abel in lower than three weeks.
Todd Combs in 2014 CNBC interview
Combs goes to JPMorgan Chase subsequent month to move a $10 billion “Strategic Funding Group” for the corporate’s new $1.5 trillion “Safety and Resiliency Initiative” to assist “corporations improve their development, spur innovation and speed up manufacturing, primarily in the US.”
Combs has been on JPM’s board since 2016 however is leaving that submit as he takes the brand new job.
In its information launch, JPM’s Chairman and CEO Jamie Dimon referred to as Combs “one of many biggest buyers and leaders I’ve recognized.”
In Berkshire’s announcement, Warren Buffett is quoted as saying “JPMorgan, as often is the case, has made a very good choice,” praising Combs for making “many nice hires at GEICO.”
Combs, who’s 54 years outdated, joined Berkshire in 2010 as a portfolio supervisor.
In 2020, he obtained a further position as CEO of Geico, Berkshire’s auto insurer, including to hypothesis he may develop into Buffett’s future successor.
At Could’s annual assembly, insurance coverage Chief Ajit Jain stated Combs “has finished an important job for us by way of turning round” Geico’s operations, citing enhancements in “matching price to danger” and incorporating telematics, the digital monitoring of how policyholders drive, in setting charges.
However Jain added, “I nonetheless assume we have to do extra in know-how.”
The duty of doing extra in know-how at Geico now belongs to its new CEO, Nancy Pierce, who strikes up from chief working officer. She’s been on the insurer since 1986, when she began as a claims affiliate.
The query of who can be assuming Combs’ duties as portfolio supervisor, nevertheless, continues to be open.
Altering the ‘Berkshire Means’
Buffett has been saying Abel can have general duty for the portfolio, nevertheless it’s not clear how a lot of that duty can be delegated to the opposite portfolio supervisor, Ted Weschler.
Berkshire may additionally rent a number of further portfolio managers and Buffett himself, in his position as chairman, may assist fill the hole left by Combs.
Historically, Berkshire has been opaque about who’s been answerable for the smaller holdings in its portfolio and hasn’t stated a lot in regards to the portfolio managers’ observe data.
In an e-mail to Buffett Watch, Hudson Worth Companions’ Christopher Davis urges Berkshire to “develop into extra clear in regards to the roles and tasks of Abel and Wechsler in managing the general public fairness portfolio.
“All of us love the ‘Berkshire approach’, however there must be some concessions to the actual fact it’s now a trillion-dollar enterprise present process its first management transition.”
Todd Combs walks to the morning session of the annual Allen and Co. Solar Valley media convention in Solar Valley, Idaho, U.S. July 7, 2021.
Brian Losness | Reuters
A number of sides of that transition are transferring the corporate away from the famously decentralized “Berkshire approach.”
Greg Abel has already been exercising extra administration oversight over the non-insurance working corporations than Buffett ever did.
Now a few of them are getting a further layer of administration.
Adam Johnson, the chairman and CEO of NetJets, has been appointed to the newly created position of “President of the Client Merchandise, Service and Retailing companies of Berkshire Hathaway.”
Calling him an “completed chief with a confirmed capability to ship long-term shareholder worth,” Abel says in Monday’s information launch that Johnson will “help the excellent CEOs of our 32 client merchandise, service and retailing companies, and uphold Berkshire’s tradition and values.”
The remaining non-insurance subsidiaries, together with BNSF, Berkshire Hathaway Power, and Pilot, will nonetheless be reporting on to Abel.
NetJets CEO Adam Johnson. (NetJets.com)
Berkshire can be getting its first common counsel.
Michael O’Sullivan served in that position at Snap Inc. since 2017 after practising legislation at Munger, Tolles & Olson for greater than 20 years.
Up till now, Berkshire has turned to outdoors legislation corporations to deal with its authorized issues.
(I would not be shocked to see Berkshire add investor, media, and authorities relations departments to its notoriously low-overhead Omaha HQ in some unspecified time in the future subsequent 12 months.
I do not assume, however, that Berkshire can be paying a dividend so long as Buffett continues to return into the workplace.)
Lastly, in a extra conventional transition, Chief Monetary Officer Marc Hamburg will retire subsequent June after 40 years at Berkshire.
Within the information launch, Buffett stated Hamburg has been “indispensable” and “has finished extra for this firm than a lot of our shareholders will ever know.”
His successor can be Berkshire Hathaway Power CFO Charles Chang.
It is lots of change for a corporation that hasn’t modified a lot through the years.
Keefe, Bruyette & Woods analyst Meyer Shields instructed the Wall Road Journal, “There’s a lot emotional funding within the persistence of Berkshire as a tradition that when you will have decent-sized modifications, that is going to trigger extra fear than jubilation over the corporate’s dynamism. That is not why folks personal Berkshire Hathaway.”
KBW downgraded Berkshire shares to “underperform” earlier this 12 months, partially as a consequence of Buffett’s impending departure.
Each the A and B shares weathered the storm fairly nicely this week, falling nearly 1%, though they’re nonetheless down greater than 7% from their all-time highs in Could, simply earlier than Buffett revealed he would step down as CEO on the finish of the 12 months.
BUFFETT AROUND THE INTERNET
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HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE ARCHIVE
What has been your greatest funding? (2005)
AUDIENCE MEMBER: What has been the one greatest funding of your careers?
WARREN BUFFETT: Most likely, by way of what it is finished already and the place it’ll go over time, most likely the one greatest funding was the primary half of GEICO, which we bought for $40 million. Now the second half value us 2 billion. I am glad I did not purchase it in thirds. (Laughter)
However, you already know, that 40 million will — for half the corporate — will prove very nicely.
However GEICO — a few of our companies have development potential, some do not. And we do not require development potential as a part of a enterprise.
If a enterprise makes good cash and we will use it to purchase different companies, one of many benefits of the Berkshire system is we’ve a tax environment friendly and form of frictionless approach of transferring cash to one of the best alternatives. And GEICO, internally, has nonetheless monumental potentialities for development.
CHARLIE MUNGER: Properly, however GEICO, in any case, value $2 billion for the second half and —
WARREN BUFFETT: Proper.
CHARLIE MUNGER: — a major variety of tens of tens of millions for the primary half.
Now the search bills that introduced us Ajit Jain, now there was an funding that basically paid a dividend.
I can consider no greater return funding that we have ever made that was higher than that one. (Applause)
And I feel that is a very good life lesson. In different phrases, getting the proper folks into your system can steadily be extra necessary than anything.
BERKSHIRE STOCK WATCH
BRK.A inventory worth: $748,887.00
BRK.B inventory worth: $499.52
BRK.B P/E (TTM): 15.97
Berkshire market capitalization: $1,077,426,505,703
Berkshire Money as of September 30: $381.7 billion (Up 10.9% from June 30)
Excluding Rail Money and Subtracting T-Payments Payable: $354.3 billion (Up 4.3% from June 30)
No Berkshire inventory repurchases since Could 2024.
(All figures are as of the date of publication, until in any other case indicated)
BERKSHIRE’S TOP EQUITY HOLDINGS – Dec. 12, 2025
Berkshire’s high holdings of disclosed publicly traded shares within the U.S. and Japan, by market worth, based mostly on the most recent closing costs.
Holdings are as of September 30, 2025, as reported in Berkshire Hathaway’s 13F submitting on November 14, 2025, apart from:
The complete listing of holdings and present market values is obtainable from CNBC.com’s Berkshire Hathaway Portfolio Tracker.
QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS
Please ship any questions or feedback in regards to the e-newsletter to me at alex.crippen@cnbc.com. (Sorry, however we do not ahead questions or feedback to Buffett himself.)
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Additionally, Buffett’s annual letters to shareholders are extremely really useful studying. There are collected right here on Berkshire’s web site.
— Alex Crippen, Editor, Warren Buffett Watch
(Correction: Fixes misspelling of Combs’ title.)
