Jamie Dimon has poached a veteran from Warren Buffett’s inner circle, and the legendary investor is surprisingly in agreement.
JPMorgan’s longtime CEO hired former Geico CEO Todd Combs from Berkshire Hathaway in December, hand-picking him to lead a $10 billion investment group as part of JPMorgan’s security and resiliency initiative to help companies accelerate manufacturing.
At a U.S. Chamber of Commerce event on Thursday, Dimon said he had personally called Buffett to tell him the unwelcome news. He claimed that Buffett accepted the outcome and preferred that his former executives stay at JPMorgan Chase rather than elsewhere.
“This is a free country and people make their own decisions,” Dimon said. “I did call Warren. He might not have wanted to, but he said, ‘If he’s going to go anywhere, at least he’s going to come to you.'”
Berkshire Hathaway and Warren Buffett did not immediately respond wealthRequest for comment.
In a market rife with executive turnover, Dimon’s Coombs hiring is important because Berkshire Hathaway is a decentralized empire whose strength comes from the longevity of its leaders and extremely low turnover at the top. The company’s executives are often seen as stewards of a culture built during Buffett’s own six-year tenure that values patience and discipline.
Combs, a former hedge fund manager, has been with Berkshire Hathaway since 2010 and was appointed by Buffett as one of two investment managers responsible for picking stocks for Berkshire Hathaway. In the race to succeed Buffett, Combs is positioned as a key leader to assist Greg Abel, who officially took over as CEO this month. However, he also served on JPMorgan’s board of directors for nine years, according to his hiring announcement.
In announcing his hiring, Dimon specifically praised Combs’ investing prowess and his work with Buffett.
“Todd Combs is one of the greatest investors and leaders I have ever known, and he has successfully managed investments alongside the most respected and successful long-term investor of our time, Warren Buffett,” Dimon said in a statement.
David Kass, a University of Maryland finance professor who runs the Warren Buffett blog, said in an interview that Combs’ hiring may have been directly influenced by his respect for Buffett. business insider.
“Dimon likely views Combs as a close surrogate for Buffett himself,” Kass told reporters. pair. “While Dimon can’t hire Buffett, he can hire one of his protégés.”
Dimon has long admired the 95-year-old legendary investor. In May, when Buffett announced his resignation as CEO, Dimon praised him as a friend and said he had learned a lot from Buffett.
