Finish of ‘The Berkshire Method’? Combs’ departure is not solely large change as Buffett transition nears

(That is the Warren Buffett Watch e-newsletter, information and evaluation on all issues Warren Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway. You’ll be able to join right here to obtain it each Friday night in your inbox.)

Todd Combs’ shock departure from Berkshire Hathaway obtained a lot of the consideration when it was introduced this week.

There have been additionally, nonetheless, a number of further personnel modifications in Monday’s three-page information launch that sign the corporate is shifting towards a extra typical construction as Warren Buffett prepares to switch his CEO title to Greg Abel in lower than three weeks.

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 “firms improve their progress, spur innovation and speed up manufacturing, primarily in the USA.”

Combs has been on JPM’s board since 2016 however is leaving that publish 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 identified.”

In Berkshire’s announcement, Warren Buffett is quoted as saying “JPMorgan, as normally is the case, has made an excellent determination,” 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Combs, who’s 54 years outdated, joined Berkshire in 2010 as a portfolio supervisor.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 would possibly turn out to be Buffett’s future successor.

At Could’s annual assembly, insurance coverage Chief Ajit Jain mentioned Combs “has achieved an incredible job for us when it comes to turning round” Geico’s operations, citing enhancements in “matching fee to threat” and incorporating telematics, the digital monitoring of how policyholders drive, in setting charges.

However Jain added, “I nonetheless suppose 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 shall be assuming Combs’ duties as portfolio supervisor, nonetheless, remains to be open.

Buffett has been saying Abel may have total duty for the portfolio, but it surely’s not clear how a lot of that duty shall 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 chargeable for the smaller holdings in its portfolio and hasn’t mentioned a lot concerning the portfolio managers’ monitor data.

In an e mail to Buffett Watch, Hudson Worth Companions’ Christopher Davis urges Berkshire to “turn out to be extra clear concerning 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 very fact it’s now a trillion-dollar enterprise present process its first management transition.”

A number of aspects of that transition are shifting the corporate away from the famously decentralized “Berkshire approach.”

Greg Abel has already been exercising extra administration oversight over the non-insurance working firms 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 Shopper Merchandise, Service and Retailing companies of Berkshire Hathaway.”

Calling him an “achieved chief with a confirmed skill 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.

Berkshire can be getting its first common counsel.

Michael O’Sullivan served in that position at Snap Inc. since 2017 after working towards legislation at Munger, Tolles & Olson for greater than 20 years.

Up till now, Berkshire has turned to exterior legislation corporations to deal with its authorized issues.

(I would not be stunned 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 yr.

I do not suppose, then again, that Berkshire shall 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 mentioned Hamburg has been “indispensable” and “has achieved extra for this firm than a lot of our shareholders will ever know.”

His successor shall be Berkshire Hathaway Power CFO Charles Chang.

It is loads of change for an organization that hasn’t modified a lot over time.

Keefe, Bruyette & Woods analyst Meyer Shields informed the Wall Avenue Journal, “There’s a lot emotional funding within the persistence of Berkshire as a tradition that when you have got decent-sized modifications, that is going to trigger extra fear than jubilation over the corporate’s dynamism. That is not why individuals personal Berkshire Hathaway.”

KBW downgraded Berkshire shares to “underperform” earlier this yr, partially as a consequence of Buffett’s impending departure.

Each the A and B shares weathered the storm fairly nicely this week, falling virtually 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 yr.

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AUDIENCE MEMBER: What has been the one greatest funding of your careers?

WARREN BUFFETT: Most likely, when it comes to what it is achieved already and the place it may 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 recognize, that 40 million will — for half the corporate — will end up very nicely.

However GEICO — a few of our companies have progress potential, some do not. And we do not require progress potential as a part of a enterprise.

If a enterprise makes good cash and we are able to use it to purchase different companies, one of many benefits of the Berkshire system is now we have a tax environment friendly and type of frictionless approach of shifting cash to one of the best alternatives. And GEICO, internally, has nonetheless monumental prospects for progress.

CHARLIE MUNGER: Effectively, however GEICO, in spite of everything, value $2 billion for the second half and —

WARREN BUFFETT: Proper.

CHARLIE MUNGER:  — a big 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 an excellent life lesson. In different phrases, getting the fitting individuals into your system can steadily be extra necessary than anything. 

BRK.A inventory value: $748,887.00

BRK.B inventory value: $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 prime 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 checklist of holdings and present market values is obtainable from CNBC.com’s Berkshire Hathaway Portfolio Tracker.

Please ship any questions or feedback concerning 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 advisable studying. There are collected right here on Berkshire’s web site.

— Alex Crippen, Editor, Warren Buffett Watch

(Correction: Fixes misspelling of Combs’ identify.)