Todd Combs To Manage "Significant" Portion of Berkshire Hathaway's Money



Warren Buffett holding the key to his castle around his neck - IllustrationWho will receive the keys to the Berkshire Hathaway castle after Warren Buffett retires or passes away? Who will be the person that takes over the reins of Berkshire Hathaway from arguably the greatest investor that has ever lived?

The answers to these questions just might be Todd Combs.

Who?

Earlier today, Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett announced that 39 year old Todd Combs has been tapped to invest a "significant" portion of Berkshire Hathaway's money.

Is this an audition to see if Combs is up to the task of taking over for Warren Buffett one day? Or is Buffett simply going to mold and mentor Combs over the coming years and eventually give him control of the company's investments?

The answer - probably a bit of both. Buffett is going to mentor Combs over the coming years, and will likely make the decision as to whether or not Combs will be "the" guy at Berkshire Hathaway when the "Oracle of Omaha" decides to hang it up (or passes away).

Who is Todd Combs?

Combs graduated from Florida State University in 1993 with "majors in finance and multinational business operations". He took a job with Florida's comptroller, and then eventually decided to make the move to Progressive Insurance.

In 2005, Combs started "Castle Point Capital Management", which is a "value-oriented long-short equity fund that focused on financial services companies". Castle Point reportedly has just under $400 million under management.

Berkshire Hathaway and Castle Point Capital Management share a number of the same positions. You can imagine that Buffett quizzed Combs as to why he liked the positions that Castle Point Capital Management held (especially the positions that Berkshire held as well), and liked the answers that he heard.

Combs prefers "old school" investing styles and tries to limit risk wherever he can, which is certainly music to Warren Buffett's ears.

--

It has always been rumored that Warren Buffett keeps the name of his successor(s) sealed in an envelope in his desk.

In actuality, there are likely two names inside of the envelope - the person who will run Berkshire Hathaway as CEO, and the person who will manage Berkshire Hathaway's investments.

It sounds as though there is a very good chance that the name "Todd Anthony Combs" will be one of the two names in the envelope when the time comes..

Sources: Fortune.com - Meet Warren Buffett's Heir Apparent

Reuters.com - Warren Buffett's Latest Pick? Investor Todd Combs

Filed under: General Market News

Related Articles