Todd Combs

Todd Combs
Born
Todd Anthony Combs

(1971-01-27) January 27, 1971
Sarasota, Florida, U.S.
Alma materFlorida State University (BS)
Columbia University (MBA)

Todd Anthony Combs (born January 27, 1971) is a former hedge fund manager and former investment manager at Berkshire Hathaway, who was also previously the chief executive officer (CEO) of GEICO from January 2020 to December 2025.[1] Alongside Ted Weschler, he was frequently cited as a potential successor of Warren Buffett as the chief investment officer of Berkshire.[2] In 2016, he was appointed board member of JPMorgan Chase.[3] In December 2025, it was announced that he would leave Berkshire Hathaway and join JPMorgan to run its Strategic Investment Group.[4]

Early life and education

Todd Anthony Combs was born and raised in Sarasota, Florida attending Riverview High School.[5][6] He is a 1993 graduate of Florida State University, with degrees in finance and multinational business operations. Combs later attended Columbia Business School in New York City, graduating in 2002.[7][8][9]

Career

After graduating college, Combs became a financial analyst for the State of Florida Banking, Securities and Finance Division. From 1996 to 2000 he was a pricing analyst at Progressive Insurance and from 2000 to 2002 he was an insurance analyst at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods. From 2003 until 2005, Combs worked at Copper Arch Capital, a hedge fund run by Scott M. Sipprelle.[10]

In 2005, with $35 million in seed money from Stone Point Capital, Combs formed Castle Point Capital. He served as Chief Executive Officer and Director of the Greenwich, Connecticut, based hedge fund until 2010, during which time the returns were a cumulative 34%, according to an investor.[10][11] In October 2010, the Wall Street Journal reported that Buffett had tapped Combs to eventually replace him as the chief investment officer of Berkshire Hathaway.[7]

In September 2016 Combs joined the board of U.S. bank JPMorgan Chase, an appointment that expanded Berkshire's ties in the financial services industry to the top three banks in America.[3]

On December 23, 2019 Combs was announced as the new CEO of GEICO, a subsidiary of Berkshire. He will continue in his duties as a portfolio manager for Berkshire.[12]

On December 8, 2025, Combs is departing Berkshire Hathaway and joining JPMorgan Chase to run the bank's new investment group as part of its wider "security and resilience" initiative announced in October. Combs will report directly to JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon and step down from the company's board, where he has served since 2016. Combs will also serve as a special adviser to Dimon and the bank's operating committee [13].

References

  1. ^ "GEICO's Roberts to Retire at the End of 2020, to Be Succeeded by Todd Combs of Berkshire Hathaway". Business Wire. December 23, 2019. Retrieved December 26, 2019.
  2. ^ Serwer, Andy (April 28, 2017). "EXCLUSIVE: Warren Buffett's money managers, Todd Combs and Ted Weschler, speak". Yahoo! Finance. Retrieved January 25, 2018.
  3. ^ a b Stempel, Jonathan (September 20, 2016). "Buffett investing deputy Combs joins JPMorgan board". Reuters. Retrieved January 25, 2018.
  4. ^ "Berkshire Hathaway stock picker Todd Combs to leave for JPMorgan". www.ft.com. December 8, 2025. Retrieved December 8, 2025.
  5. ^ MCQUAID, Kevin; Pollick, Michael. "Sarasotan in line as possible Buffett successor". Herald-Tribune. Retrieved March 2, 2021.
  6. ^ "Sarasota native not among Buffett promotions". Sarasota Herald Tribune. January 10, 2018. Retrieved January 25, 2018.
  7. ^ a b Susan Pulliam; Serena Ng (October 28, 2010). "Buffett Flags a Successor". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved October 27, 2010.
  8. ^ Shinewald, Jeremy (October 27, 2010). "MBA News: CBS '02 Grad to Manage Berkshire's Billions". nbamission.com. Retrieved October 28, 2010.
  9. ^ Foley, Stephen (May 18, 2016). "Warren Buffett's protégés flex investment muscle". Financial Times. The Financial Times Ltd. Retrieved April 12, 2017.
  10. ^ a b Barr, Alistair (October 27, 2010). "Photo of Berkshire's 'mystery man' elusive". MarketWatch. Retrieved May 28, 2019.
  11. ^ Serena Ng; Susan Pulliam; Gregory Zuckerman (October 28, 2010). "Buffett: Combs Is 'a 100% Fit'". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved October 27, 2010.
  12. ^ "Warren Buffett protege Todd Combs named Geico CEO". CNBC. December 23, 2019.
  13. ^ Vipers, Heather Gillers, Krystal Hur and Gareth (December 8, 2025). "Berkshire's Geico Boss Todd Combs Leaves for JPMorgan Ahead of Buffett Retirement". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved December 9, 2025.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

Further reading