The end of the “Berkshire Way”? Combs’ departure is not the only major change as Buffett approaches the transition.

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Todd Combs’ sudden departure from Berkshire Hathaway drew the most attention when it was announced this week.

But Monday’s three-page news release also included some additional personnel changes, suggesting the company is moving toward a more traditional structure as Warren Buffett prepares to transfer the CEO title to Greg Abel within three weeks.

Combs is going to do this. JP Morgan Chase Next month, he will lead the company’s $10 billion Strategic Investment Group, which will work on a new $1.5 trillion Security and Resilience Initiative that will help companies “strengthen growth, accelerate innovation and accelerate manufacturing, primarily in the United States.”

Mr. Combs has served on JPM’s board since 2016, but will be leaving his post to take up a new role.

JPM Chairman and CEO Jamie Dimon called Combs “one of the greatest investors and leaders I know” in a news release.

In Berkshire’s announcement, Warren Buffett reportedly said, “As always, JPMorgan made a good decision,” and praised Combs for “hiring a lot of great people at GEICO.”

Combs, 54, joined Berkshire in 2010 as a portfolio manager.

In 2020, he added a role as CEO of Berkshire’s auto insurance company Geico, fueling speculation that he could be Buffett’s future successor.

At the company’s annual general meeting in May, Insurance Commissioner Ajit Jain said Combs had “done a great job in turning around” Geico’s operations, including improving “interest rate and risk matching” and introducing telematics, which electronically monitors policyholders’ driving behavior, to set premiums.

However, Jain added, “I think we still need to do more on the technology side.”

Further efforts in Geico’s technology space now fall to new CEO Nancy Pierce, who has been promoted from chief operating officer. She started working for an insurance company in 1986 as a claims representative.

However, the question of who will take over Combs’ role as portfolio manager remains unresolved.

Buffett said Abel will have overall responsibility for the portfolio, but it’s unclear how much of that responsibility will be delegated to another portfolio manager, Ted Weschler.

Berkshire could hire one or more additional portfolio managers, and Buffett himself could fill Combs’s role in his role as chairman.

Berkshire has traditionally been opaque about who is responsible for small holdings in its portfolio and has not said much about the performance of its portfolio managers.

In an email to Buffett Watch, Christopher Davis of Hudson Value Partners said he is asking Berkshire to be “more transparent about the roles and responsibilities of Mr. Abel and Mr. Wexler in managing the public equity portfolio.

“We all love ‘The Berkshire Way,’ but there has to be some concession to the fact that Berkshire is a trillion-dollar company currently undergoing its first leadership change.”

Some aspects of that transition are moving the company away from the famously decentralized “Berkshire Way.”

Greg Abel already exercises stricter management oversight than Buffett over non-insurance companies.

Some companies are now acquiring an additional layer of management.

Adam Johnson, NetJets Chairman and CEO, has been appointed to the newly created role of President of Berkshire Hathaway’s Consumer Products, Services and Retail Business.

Abel called Johnson “a proven leader who delivers long-term shareholder value,” and said in a news release Monday that Johnson will “support the high-caliber CEOs of 32 of our consumer products, services and retail businesses and uphold Berkshire’s culture and values.”

Remaining non-insurance subsidiaries, including BNSF, Berkshire Hathaway Energy and Pilot, will continue to report directly to Abel.

Berkshire will also have its first general counsel.

Michael O’Sullivan began his role at Snap in 2017 after spending more than 20 years as an attorney at Munger, Tolles & Olson.

Berkshire has traditionally relied on outside law firms to handle its legal issues.

(I wouldn’t be surprised to see Berkshire add an investor, media, and government relations department at some point next year to its Omaha headquarters, which has notoriously low overhead costs.

On the other hand, I don’t think Berkshire will pay a dividend as long as Buffett remains in office.)

Finally, in a more traditional transition, Chief Financial Officer Mark Hamburg will retire next June after 40 years at Berkshire.

Buffett said in a news release that Hamburg has been “indispensable” and “has done more for this company than many shareholders know.”

He will be succeeded by Berkshire Hathaway Energy CFO Charles Chan.

This is a big change for a company that hasn’t changed much over the years.

Keefe, Bruyette & Woods analyst Meyer Shields told the Wall Street Journal: “There’s so much emotional investment in Berkshire’s cultural survival that any change of any size would create more anxiety than excitement about the company’s dynamism. That’s not why people own Berkshire Hathaway.”

Earlier this year, KBW downgraded Berkshire’s stock to “underperform,” in part because of Buffett’s impending retirement.

Both A and B shares have weathered this week’s storm fairly well, falling almost 1%, but are still down more than 7% from their all-time highs reached in May, just before Buffett announced he would step down as CEO at the end of the year.

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Audience: What was the best investment of your career?

Warren Buffett: Probably the single best investment, in terms of what’s been done and where it’s going, was the first half of GEICO, which we bought for $40 million. The cost for the second half is 2 billion. I’m glad I didn’t have to buy it in three parts. (laughs)

But, you know, $40 million for half the company is going to be very good.

But GEICO — some of our businesses have growth potential and some don’t. And you don’t need growth as part of your business.

If a company makes enough profits that it can use to acquire other companies, one of the benefits of Berkshire’s system is that it can move capital to the best opportunities in a tax-efficient and frictionless manner. And GEICO still has significant growth potential internally.

Charlie Munger: Yeah, but at the end of the day, GEICO cost $2 billion in the second half of the year, and—

Warren Buffett: Yeah.

CHARLIE MUNGER: — a significant number in the tens of millions in the first half.

Well, the exploration costs that brought us Ajit Jain, now we have an investment that really pays dividends.

I can’t think of any investment we’ve ever made that has given us a higher return. (applause)

And I think that’s a good life lesson. In other words, getting the right people into the system is often more important than anything else.

BRK.A stock price: $748,887.00

BRK.B stock price: $499.52

BRK.BP/E (TTM): 15.97

Berkshire Market Capitalization: $1,077,426,505,703

Berkshire Cash as of September 30: $381.7 billion (up 10.9% from June 30)

Excluding railroad cash and outstanding Treasury bills: $354.3 billion (4.3% increase from June 30)

There have been no repurchases of Berkshire stock since May 2024.

(All figures are as of the date of publication, unless otherwise noted)

Berkshire’s top U.S. and Japanese listed stocks by market capitalization, based on the latest closing prices.

Holdings are as of September 30, 2025, as reported in Berkshire Hathaway’s November 14, 2025 13F filing. However, the following cases are excluded.

A complete list of holdings and current market value is available on CNBC.com’s Berkshire Hathaway Portfolio Tracker.

If you have any questions or comments about the newsletter, please send them to alex.crippen@cnbc.com. (Sorry, we do not forward questions or comments to Mr. Buffett himself.)

If you haven’t subscribed to this newsletter yet, you can sign up here.

I also highly recommend Buffett’s annual letter to shareholders. It’s collected here on Berkshire’s website.

— Alex Crippen, Warren Buffett Watch Editor

(Correction: Corrected misspelling of Combs’ name.)