"Rising star" shakes up Buffett succession speculation
| "That's an awful lot of work for one person" Berkshire Hathaway portfolio manager Todd Combs got a big endorsement this week with the announcement he will be the new CEO of GEICO starting next week on January 1.
Current CEO Bill Roberts will remain vice chairman until he retires at the end of 2020.
Despite his new job at Berkshire's big (second largest in the U.S.) auto insurer, Combs will continue to manage his $14 billion portfolio of investments.
"That's an awful lot of work for one person," KBW analyst Meyer Shields told Reuters.  Shields thinks the move is designed to let Combs "broaden his operational expertise." He notes that Buffett sees an "overlap between being a good investor and a good businessperson."
Combs and fellow portfolio manager Ted Weschler are widely expected to eventually assume Buffett's chief investment officer responsibilities. Neither of them, though, has been seen as a top candidate to replace Buffett as Berkshire's CEO.
Combs' new job, however, has changed that ... a bit.
Under the headline "Who Will Succeed Warren Buffett as Berkshire Hathaway CEO? There's Another Rising Star," Barron's Andrew Berry writes that Combs' new GEICO role "may mean Buffett wants to give him managerial experience that could position him to succeed Buffett." (Emphasis added)
But Bary also notes that "Barron's has pegged [Greg] Abel as Buffett's likely successor because of his experience running Berkshire Hathaway Energy."
Abel is still Shields' top candidate. "I don't think [Combs becoming GEICO's CEO] is a predecessor to being Berkshire's CEO. There is more experience embedded in Greg Abel, and if he takes over it is good for Berkshire to have a deep bench."
Put your trust in Buffett or bitcoin? When it comes to investing your money, The Wall Street Journal says, "How you answer might depend on how old you are."
In a brief story headlined "Got Berkshire Hathaway in Your Portfolio? OK, Boomer" (subscription required), the Journal notes what it calls the "surprising result" of a Charles Schwab look at individual investors' self-directed portfolios:
"Millennials hold more Grayscale Bitcoin Trust in their portfolios than they do Berkshire Hathaway stock."
It's close, though. Grayscale represented 1.84% of millennials' portfolios versus 1.73% for Berkshire.
What's not close? Their year-to-date returns. Berkshire's B shares are up 10.8% while Grayscale has soared 116.4%. From the Archive: BUFFETT SEES GROWING ROLES FOR TODD AND TED
https://buffett.cnbc.com/In this 2014 Berkshire annual meeting clip from our Warren Buffett Archive, Buffett signals that portfolio managers Todd Combs (hired in 2010) and Ted Weschler (hired in 2011) would increasingly be taking on additional jobs and not just managing investments.
BUFFETT AROUND THE INTERNET Some links may require a subscription
BERKSHIRE STOCK WATCH
  BERKSHIRE'S TOP STOCK HOLDINGS
 Berkshire's top stock holdings by market value, based on today's closing prices. The number of shares held is as of September 30, 2019, as disclosed in the company's November 14 13F SEC filing.
The full list of holdings and current market values is available from CNBC.com's Berkshire Hathaway Portfolio Tracker.
QUESTIONS/COMMENTS/BIRTHDAY WISHES
Happy Birthday to Charlie Munger. He turns 96 on January 1.
And Happy New Year to all!
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-- Alex Crippen, Editor, Warren Buffett Watch
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