Berkshire Hathaway Announces Exit of Finance Chief Todd Combs for JPMorgan

JPMorgan has hired Combs, ending his decade-plus career inside Berkshire and GEICO.

Todd Combs, investment manager at Berkshire Hathaway, attends the annual Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference in Sun Valley, Idaho, on July 12, 2019. Drew Angerer/Getty Images

Berkshire Hathaway investment manager Todd Combs is leaving to join JPMorgan Chase, the conglomerate stated on Dec. 8.

Combs’s departure comes only weeks before Warren Buffett prepares to relinquish the CEO role on Jan. 1, 2026, part of a transition the 95-year-old investor announced in late November. Buffett will remain chairman after stepping down, a move approved unanimously by the board in May.

Berkshire’s leadership reshuffle arrives at a moment when the company is holding a record $381.7 billion in cash and short-term investments, reported on Nov. 1, reflecting a 34 percent jump in operating profit in the latest quarter.

Combs has served as CEO of GEICO, a major American insurance company and subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway, since 2020. He also served as a Berkshire investment manager since 2010.

Buffett said on Dec. 8 that Combs had resigned “to accept an interesting and important job at JPMorgan,” noting that the bank would soon describe the role in its own announcement.

Buffett praised Combs as a leader who “made many great hires at GEICO and broadened its horizons.”

“JPMorgan, as usually is the case, has made a good decision,” Buffet said.

Combs has served on JPMorgan’s board since 2016, giving him deep familiarity with the bank’s strategy as he moves into an executive role.

Leadership Changes

The exit of Combs is part of a broader realignment as Greg Abel, vice chairman for non-insurance operations, prepares to succeed Buffett.

Abel, who will assume the CEO role in January, will continue to directly oversee Berkshire’s remaining non-insurance operations, including BNSF, Berkshire Hathaway Energy, Pilot, McLane, industrial products and building materials businesses.

Combs’s departure opens the way for Nancy L. Pierce to become CEO of GEICO, effective immediately.

Pierce, currently the insurer’s chief operating officer, joined GEICO in 1986 and built her career across claims, underwriting, product management, and regional operations.

Ajit Jain, vice chairman for insurance operations, said on Dec. 8 that Pierce “knows the business inside and out.”

He described her as “practical, decisive and focused on results,” saying that he has “full confidence in her ability to move GEICO forward.”

Berkshire also announced a long-running transition within its finance ranks. Marc D. Hamburg, chief financial officer for nearly four decades, will retire on June 1, 2027.

Buffett said Hamburg had been “indispensable” and that “his integrity and judgment are priceless.”

To ensure continuity, Charles C. Chang, CFO of Berkshire Hathaway Energy, will take over as Berkshire’s CFO in June 2026, with Hamburg staying on during a year-long transition. Chang, a former partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers with more than 30 years of experience in public-company reporting and M&A, will be based in Omaha, Nebraska.

Berkshire also created a new in-house position of senior vice president and general counsel, naming Michael J. O’Sullivan to assume the post on Jan. 1. O’Sullivan joins from Snap Inc., where he has been general counsel since 2017. For decades, Berkshire has primarily relied on external law firms for corporate matters, making the appointment a notable structural shift.