Jamie Dimon poached Warren Buffett’s protégé to run a $10 billion fund—he says Buffett’s response was ‘at least he’s going to you’

The longtime JPMorgan Chase CEO hired former Geico CEO Todd Combs away from Berkshire Hathaway in December 2025, hand-picking him to lead a $10 billion investment group as part of JPMorgan’s Security and Resiliency Initiative aimed at helping companies accelerate manufacturing. 

During a U.S. Chamber of Commerce event this January, Dimon said he had called Buffett personally to tell him the unwelcome news. He claimed Buffett accepted the outcome, preferring his former executive land at JPMorgan than elsewhere.

“It’s a free country, and people make their own decisions,” Dimon said. “I did call Warren. He probably wouldn’t have preferred it, but he said, ‘if he’s going anywhere, at least he’s going to you.’”

Buffett’s assistant confirmed the accuracy of the account.

In a market saturated with executive moves, Dimon’s Combs hire matters because Berkshire Hathaway is a decentralized empire that draws its strength from the long tenures of its leaders with minimal churn at the top. Its executives are often seen as stewards of a culture, built over Buffett’s own six-decade tenure, that prizes patience and discipline.

Combs, a former hedge fund manager, had been at Berkshire since 2010 and was brought on by Buffett to serve as one of two investment managers tasked with picking stocks for Berkshire. During the succession race to replace Buffett, Combs was positioned as a key leader to assist Greg Abel, who took over as CEO from Buffett in January. Yet, he also served nine years on JPMorgan’s board, according to his hiring announcement.

Since joining JPMorgan in January, Combs quickly put his investment experience to work. His investment group has already committed $5 billion of the $10 billion initially allocated to it, according to a recent announcement.

Meanwhile, Berkshire has also entered a new era with new leadership after Buffett was replaced as CEO by Abel in January after 55 years with the legendary investor at the helm.

The 96-year-old also officially stepped down as chairman last month, handing the role to his son Howard. Buffett remains on Berkshire’s board.

In announcing the hiring, Dimon specifically called out Combs’s investment prowess and his work with Buffett.

“Todd Combs is one of the greatest investors and leaders I’ve known, having successfully managed investments alongside the most respected and successful long-term investor of our time, Warren Buffett,” Dimon said in a statement. 

Combs’ hiring may have been directly influenced by his respect for Buffett, said University of Maryland finance professor David Kass, who runs a Warren Buffett blog, in an interview earlier this year with Business Insider.

“Dimon may very well have viewed Combs as a close proxy for Buffett himself,” Kass told the outlet. “Although Dimon could not hire Buffett, he could hire one of his protégés.”

Dimon has long admired Buffett. In May 2025, as Buffett announced he was stepping down from the CEO role, Dimon praised him as a friend and said he had learned from him.

“Warren Buffett represents everything that is good about American capitalism and America itself — investing in the growth of our nation and its businesses with integrity, optimism, and common sense,” Dimon said at the time, according to Reuters.

Though a couple decades younger than Buffett, Dimon, 70, has also faced questions about when he will step aside.

Dimon, who has served as CEO of JPMorgan since 2006, has been reluctant to put a clean end date on his tenure. He spent years responding to retirement questions with a rolling horizon, and only changed his tone in 2024 saying the timeframe had shortened and succession plans were “well on the way.”

This year, Dimon again suggested he was in no hurry to retire, telling an audience in January he wanted to remain CEO for “at least” five more years.

In June, JPMorgan elevated two executives, Doug Petno and Troy Rohrbaugh, to co-presidents, and in July Dimon said the timetable for his retirement was essentially unchanged and ultimately up to the bank’s board.

A version of this story was published on Fortune.com on Jan. 16, 2026.