One of Warren Buffett’s investing lieutenants and GEICO CEO Todd Combs is leaving Berkshire Hathaway (BRK-B, BRK-A) to join JPMorgan Chase (JPM) in a new role as part of a major shakeup at both companies.
Coombs will leave Berkshire Hathaway and lead GEICO to run the bank’s new investment group as part of its broader “security and resilience” plan announced in October.
Combs will report directly to JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon and will step down from the company’s board of directors, where he has served since 2016. Coombs will also serve as a special adviser to Dimon and the bank’s operating committee.
“Todd Combs is one of the greatest investors and leaders I have ever known,” Dimon said in a statement. “He served on our board for nine years and truly understands all aspects of our company.”
“As always, JPMorgan Chase made the right decision,” Warren Buffett said in a press release from Berkshire Hathaway.
Buffett and Dimon have maintained a friendly relationship over the years, with Dimon often visiting Buffett in Omaha, Nebraska. Before Buffett stopped traveling a few years ago, he attended a JPMorgan Chase event in New York, according to a person familiar with the matter.
JPMorgan’s “Security and Resilience” plan involves the bank’s commitment to provide $1.5 trillion in financing and lending efforts to strengthen U.S. interests in supply chains, technology capabilities and industrial resiliency. It also includes a $10 billion capital pool dedicated to strategic venture capital and equity investments in companies involved in artificial intelligence, mining and defense manufacturing.
JPMorgan has also established an all-star external advisory board, chaired by Dimon, that will advise on broader national security initiatives. The group includes Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, Dell founder Michael Dell, former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and several former defense, intelligence and industry executives.
“We’re a very patriotic company, and then we started asking what else can we do?” Dimon said during a fireside chat at a defense conference held over the weekend at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library.
“We will have partners – lots of people. We will work with other banks if necessary,” he added.
Meanwhile, Berkshire Hathaway announced a broader executive shakeup ahead of a planned CEO transition later this month, with Greg Abel set to succeed Buffett on January 1.
Berkshire announced that GEICO COO Nancy Pierce will succeed Coombs as CEO, effective in January. Berkshire also announced that it will appoint Michael O’Sullivan as its first general counsel next month and revealed that Chief Financial Officer Mark Hamburger plans to retire in mid-2027.