According to Business Insider, Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway announced its biggest management shake-up in decades on Monday, May 20th. The changes include the surprise exit of investment manager Todd Combs, who is leaving to join JPMorgan, and the planned retirement of longtime CFO Marc Hamburg in June 2027 after nearly four decades. Greg Abel, set to become CEO on January 1st, 2025, appointed NetJets CEO Adam Johnson as president of 32 consumer businesses and named Michael O’Sullivan as Berkshire’s first-ever general counsel. Geico’s operating chief, Nancy Pierce, replaced Combs as CEO of the auto insurer, and finance executive Charles Chang is set to succeed Hamburg in 2026.
The Unfreezing Moment
Here’s the thing about a legendary CEO stepping down after 60 years: it creates what one expert called an “unfreezing moment.” Everyone starts looking around. The loyalty was to Warren, not necessarily to the org chart. So when Greg Abel takes over on New Year’s Day, it’s not just a new boss. It’s a whole new world. And as the article notes, some people signed up to work for Warren Buffett, not for Berkshire Hathaway. That’s a real risk. You’ve got a team of all-stars, but many are past typical retirement age. Why stick around for the new coach’s playbook when you could just… retire?
Decoding The Moves
So what do these specific changes tell us? The creation of a general counsel role is a big one. Berkshire famously ran for decades with just Warren and Charlie Munger, leaning on Munger’s old law firm for external advice. Bringing that function in-house is a clear signal of institutionalization. It’s a prudent step for a $1 trillion company, but it also feels like the end of an incredibly lean, quirky era.
Then there’s Adam Johnson’s new role overseeing 32 consumer businesses. This is classic corporate structuring 101. Abel can’t personally manage dozens of unit CEOs on top of everything else. You need layers. This move creates bandwidth for him and, frankly, is the kind of sensible delegation Buffett famously avoided. It’s the first sign of Abel putting his own operational stamp on the machine.
The Biggest Worry
But the most intriguing departure is Todd Combs. He wasn’t just a portfolio manager; he was seen as a key leader of the post-Buffett future. His jump to JPMorgan is a stunner. It makes you wonder: is the prestige and challenge of running money for Berkshire diminishing with Buffett’s exit? The article quotes analysts who expect more turnover, and this might be the proof. If Combs—who also successfully turned around Geico—leaves, who’s next? The concern is that the brain drain has just begun.
What Comes Next?
Basically, this is phase one. The experts in the piece predict Abel will appoint more divisional heads, similar to how the Berkshire-owned conglomerate Marmon operates. He’ll also likely need to find a replacement for Combs to help Ted Weschler manage that colossal $350 billion cash pile and stock portfolio. The critical watchpoint now is the insurance division. If giants like Ajit Jain or Joe Brandon were to leave, that would send a real shock through the system. For now, the transition seems managed. But the unfreezing has begun. And in the thaw, you often find out what an organization is really made of.
