Buffett/Berkshire - general news

[charlieruane]

Well, we do know that Buffett thinks Todd did a good job at Geico, per the latest annual report: 

 

Quote

Our insurance business also delivered a major increase in earnings, led by the performance of GEICO. In five years, Todd Combs has reshaped GEICO in a major way, increasing efficiency and bringing underwriting practices up to date. GEICO was a long-held gem that needed major repolishing, and Todd has worked tirelessly in getting the job done. Though not yet complete, the 2024 improvement was spectacular.

 

Less clear how well his portfolio worked out, but the Geico thing is pretty major. 

[Pellom]

On 11/17/2025 at 6:38 PM, charlieruane said:

Do we known/suspect who initiated the DPZ position? If not, I suspect... Todd. Todd once mentioned he's a big fan of Tom Bancroft; Bancroft has a major DPZ position. 

 

Speculative, I realize. 

 

Coming back around to this after the news about Todd leaving.

 

I wonder if Bancroft is going to JP Morgan or maybe backfilling Todd at GEICO/Berkshire. 

[Ice77]

I found Buffett's remarks awkward to say the least - How little he said and what all he omitted. 

 

Warren E. Buffett, Berkshire’s Chairman, added: “Todd A. Combs, CEO of GEICO since 2020, has resigned

to accept an interesting and important job at JPMorgan, which they describe in a press release that

will be available very soon on their website. Todd made many great hires at GEICO and broadened

its horizons. JPMorgan, as usually is the case, has made a good decision.”

Edited December 8, 2025 by Ice77

[jbwent63]

Marc retiring is not a surprise. With WEB leaving it is a good time to retire. The additional corporate positions are also not surprising. A new leader for CSR and a legal addition, given the legal issues at BHE, both make perfect sense. Todd's departure is surprising. I wonder if he and Greg have issues, or if he and Ted had issues, and he saw an opportunity and jumped at it (good for him!). It's unlikely we will ever get this granular information, but the market is speaking with a 2+% downdraft at the time of this writing.

Of course, whenever an employee leaves, it is always a chance to improve the team. It will be interesting to see what, if any, additions to the investment team are forthcoming. With Ajit, of course we all hope he is there forever, but that isn't going to happen.

One idea would be to have Berkshire purchase MKL, and bring its investing group into the fold (Gayner et al) along with additional insurance management to choose Ajit's replacement from. (Unlikely I know, but who knows).

[ratiman]

On 5/8/2025 at 1:05 PM, ratiman said:

Here is what I would do in Abel's position. First, sell off some of the smaller businesses that don't contribute to BRK, like  BusinessWire and Pampered Chef. It's not worth management time to deal with companies that small. Then I would consolidate the jewelry business under one brand and the furniture under one brand. I would pick a handful of businesses that had been underinvested during the WB years, such as Sees and DQ, and increase investment. Then I would take all the money away from Ted and Todd walk them out of the building like they were being arrested by the FBI. Finally I would change the name of Berkshire Hathaway RE to Hathaway Homes because it's not as much of a mouthful and you don't want to name a subsidiary after the holding company.

 

Greg must read my posts because he did two of the things I suggested, he created a CPG platform company and he fired half of Todd & Ted. Todd running GEICO never made any sense because he wasn't an operator or an insurance executive. It will be hilarious if BRK begins to wind down SIRI because it's a Todd investment, although I would be surprised if he was investing while running GEICO. 

[Peregrine]

1 hour ago, charlieruane said:

Well, we do know that Buffett thinks Todd did a good job at Geico, per the latest annual report: 

 

 

Less clear how well his portfolio worked out, but the Geico thing is pretty major. 

 

Buffett praises but never criticizes pubicly. Take a gander at the Geico Reddit forum and you'll understand why he's probably the most hated man in the company's history.

[gfp]

7 minutes ago, ratiman said:

I would be surprised if he was investing while running GEICO. 

 

I think he was still running his portfolio inside BRK while running GEICO.  I don't think SIRI is likely to be a Todd pick.

[Pellom]

42 minutes ago, Peregrine said:

 

Buffett praises but never criticizes pubicly. Take a gander at the Geico Reddit forum and you'll understand why he's probably the most hated man in the company's history.

 

I'm not surprised he's hated. Wasn't most of his success laying off a bunch of people and leaning into automated tech/analytics? 

[Peregrine]

12 minutes ago, Pellom said:

 

I'm not surprised he's hated. Wasn't most of his success laying off a bunch of people and leaning into automated tech/analytics? 

 

He fired more than half the people at GEICO.

[Malmqky]

I have a few friends who work/worked at Geico.

 

Yes, his success is laying off people and leaning into analytics ala Progressive.

 

Yes, they hate him.

 

I was told there was a lot of talk amongst employees about "how could he possibly manage a portfolio at Berkshire and be CEO at the same time effectively?"

 

Take it as you will.

 

[backtothebeach]

"Before joining and later leading GEICO, Todd Combs spent several years working directly in the property‑and‑casualty insurance industry, including as a pricing analyst at Progressive Insurance and as an insurance analyst covering insurers on Wall Street."

 

I don't think he was such a bad fit, and ultimately he did the dirty work for Buffett. This year I listened to all past annual meetings, and Buffett was asked at least in two years, maybe three, about telematics and the competition from Progressive, and he waved it off saying he was happy with the way they were evaluating risk at Geico. Later, when they realized they had a problem, he let Ajit answer questions about Geico and praised Todd.

 

Why is Combs disliked here on Cobf? Probably because in all these years there has not been any outstanding, needle moving investment by Todd or Ted (except the first AAPL purchases) that I can remember, they haven't beaten the S+P, and we secretly think we could have done it better, lol.

[John Hjorth]

JPMorgan Chase Press Release from about 8 hours ago related to Todd Combs :

 

JPMorgan Chase Press Release [December 8^th 2025] : JPMorganChase names Todd Combs to head Strategic Investment Group of Security and Resiliency Initiative; Company also announces external advisory council to inform SRI’s strategy and investment priorities  Press Releases  JPMorganChase names Todd Combs to head Strategic Investment Group of Security and Resiliency Initiative; Company also announces external advisory council to inform SRI’s strategy and investment priorities

 

Subtitle : Todd Combs to lead firm’s efforts to make direct equity investments of an initial $10 billion as part of its $1.5 trillion initiative to address pressing needs in key sectors from critical minerals to frontier technologies.

 

- - - o 0 o - - -

 

After reading the Press Release in full, I'm personally of the opnion, that this must have been a once in a lifetime opportunity for Todd Combs, simply to good to pass on.

[cubsfan]

My memory is fuzzy - but didn't Todd bring the Apple investment to Berkshire - which led to the largest gross profit in the portfolio?   

[whatstheofficerproblem]

Think the most sketchy part about this to me is, if Todd was indeed good, he could have just spun off and started his own fund. Don't think BRK lacks money to seed some capital and LPs for sure would have lined up. It is telling he went to JPM instead.

[73 Reds]

6 minutes ago, whatstheofficerproblem said:

Think the most sketchy part about this to me is, if Todd was indeed good, he could have just spun off and started his own fund. Don't think BRK lacks money to seed some capital and LPs for sure would have lined up. It is telling he went to JPM instead.

IMO, without knowing his true motivation for leaving, its all mere speculation.  We can't even measure his value added to Berkshire, other than some kind words from Buffett every now and then.  I think folks are reading too much into this without further information.  I would, however be interested to know whether he keeps his Berkshire shares.   

[gfp]

1 minute ago, 73 Reds said:

IMO, without knowing his true motivation for leaving, its all mere speculation.  We can't even measure his value added to Berkshire, other than some kind words from Buffett every now and then.  I think folks are reading too much into this without further information.  I would, however be interested to know whether he keeps his Berkshire shares.   

 

What makes you think he owns Berkshire stock?

[73 Reds]

Just now, gfp said:

 

What makes you think he owns Berkshire stock?

Well, all board members are "strongly encouraged" to own shares so wouldn't you think the same would apply (or even more so) to Todd and Ted?  Or do you know something I don't, LOL?

[DooDiligence]

3 hours ago, ratiman said:

 

Greg must read my posts because he did two of the things I suggested, he created a CPG platform company and he fired half of Todd & Ted. Todd running GEICO never made any sense because he wasn't an operator or an insurance executive. It will be hilarious if BRK begins to wind down SIRI because it's a Todd investment, although I would be surprised if he was investing while running GEICO. 

 

Didn't he work for Progressive a long time ago? That said, I don't care if he did lead GEICO to recent profitability. He did it at the expense of losing market share by blindly running off customers.

 

I told story this before on here but I was a GEICO customer a few years ago and used their DriveEasy app to get a meager discount. Scored damn near perfect on hard braking, cornering, etc. Not long after, they jacked my rate up significantly. I went to Progressive and they offered me a rate that was actually lower than my pre-jacked up GEICO premium. I don't understand all the praise for Combs. Overpaid hatchet man?

[John Hjorth]

27 minutes ago, gfp said:

 

What makes you think he owns Berkshire stock?

 

For sure, an interesting exchange between @73 Reds and @gfp here!,

 

Latest Berkshire DEF 14A, dated 14^th March 2025, p. 8  :

 

[73 Reds]

20 minutes ago, John Hjorth said:

 

For sure, an interesting exchange between @73 Reds and @gfp here!,

 

Latest Berkshire DEF 14A, dated 14^th March 2025, p. 8  :

 

I mean who knows; maybe Berkshire is one of Todd's initial equity investments in his new gig at JPMorgan.  He clearly knows the company.

[ValueMaven]

Ted > Todd ... Todd is a coward

[John Hjorth]

For whatever it may be to you personally, here is Chris Bloomstrans take on the changes initiated and in progress at Berkshire, at least, I, personally, I found it to be an interesting read :

 

 

Edited December 8, 2025 by John Hjorth

[oscarazocar]

2 hours ago, cubsfan said:

My memory is fuzzy - but didn't Todd bring the Apple investment to Berkshire - which led to the largest gross profit in the portfolio?   

 

What is the source for Combs bringing the Apple investment to Berkshire?

 

I have talked to a few investors who believe that Combs has tried to take credit for the Apple investment (see Graham & Dodd breakfast in 2023 where he implies it) when they think that Weschler is the one who initiated it, and that seems to fit a pattern where Weschler stays quiet on things and avoids taking credit and Combs tries to puff up his importance.  Buffett and Weschler have both pointedly refused to acknowledge whose idea it was directly.  Make of that what you will.  There is a lengthy comment from VIC floating around where someone litigates the case against Combs.

 

Here is a 2016 interview with Weschler where he discusses Apple and Berkshire.

https://blog.umd.edu/davidkass/2016/10/23/ted-weschler-explains-berkshire-hathaways-investment-in-apple-to-german-magazine/#:~:text=Warren Buffett's portfolio manager was,disclosed whose position Apple is.

 

Here are the Combs 2023 breakfast notes:

https://investmentmanagementinsights.substack.com/p/graham-and-dodd-annual-breakfast

[LC]

Didn't Warren bring in Ted, and Charlie brought in Todd?

 

After Charlie's passing, perhaps Todd lost the mentor which kept him at Berkshire?

 

Also, you know if I was a money manager for a living, and my boss told me to take an operational role, to go fire thousands of people and ruin their livelihoods, and burn my personal reputation to the ground....all while what I signed up for was sitting in an old leather chair reading print copies of 10-Ks and making buy/sell decisions...I would probably not be happy.

 

Warren seems to have a habit of churning thru people over his investment career.

 

It was never really clear how these two interacted with WB & CM. Were they totally separate? WB says so, but presumably their influence impacted large holdings like Apple. So what exactly was their role, how much influence over the portfolio did they have? Ultimately with both T&T I think there are many, many more questions than we will ever have answers.

Edited December 8, 2025 by LC

[villainx]

8 hours ago, rogermunibond said:

Is it going to be someone young and relatively unknown or could Greg get Li Lu or another big name HF manager to come work for Berkshire.

 

Maybe some unknown from a favored investing forum, have to check the how old everyone is thread to see if it'll end up young, though by BRK standards, everyone is young, right?