Todd Anthony Combs is an American hedge fund

Hedge fund

A hedge fund is a private pool of capital actively managed by an investment adviser. Hedge funds are only open for investment to a limited number of accredited or qualified investors who meet criteria set by regulators. These investors can be institutions, such as pension funds, university...

 manager who has been tapped as a potential successor of Warren Buffett

Warren Buffett

Warren Edward Buffett is an American business magnate, investor, and philanthropist. He is widely regarded as one of the most successful investors in the world. Often introduced as "legendary investor, Warren Buffett", he is the primary shareholder, chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway. He is...

 as the chief investment officer of Berkshire Hathaway

Berkshire Hathaway

Berkshire Hathaway Inc. is an American multinational conglomerate holding company headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, United States, that oversees and manages a number of subsidiary companies. The company averaged an annual growth in book value of 20.3% to its shareholders for the last 44 years,...

.

Early life and education

Todd Anthony Combs was born and raised in Sarasota, Florida

Sarasota, Florida

Sarasota is a city located in Sarasota County on the southwestern coast of the U.S. state of Florida. It is south of the Tampa Bay Area and north of Fort Myers...

. He is a 1993 graduate of Florida State University

Florida State University

The Florida State University is a space-grant and sea-grant public university located in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is a comprehensive doctoral research university with medical programs and significant research activity as determined by the Carnegie Foundation...

, with degrees in finance and multinational business operations. Combs later attended Columbia Business School

Columbia Business School

Columbia Business School is the business school of Columbia University in Manhattan, New York City. It was established in 1916 to provide business training and professional preparation for undergraduate and graduate Columbia University students...

 in New York, graduating in 2002.

Professional career

Before going into the hedge-fund world, Combs worked for a time as a Florida

Florida

Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...

 bank regulator and also in the pricing department of Progressive Insurance. In 2005, Combs launched a hedge fund called Castle Point Capital, based in Greenwich, Connecticut

Greenwich, Connecticut

Greenwich is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. As of the 2010 census, the town had a total population of 61,171. It is home to many hedge funds and other financial service companies. Greenwich is the southernmost and westernmost municipality in Connecticut and is 38+ minutes ...

. He was Chief Executive Officer and Director of Castle Point from 2005 to 2010. During that time, the returns of Combs's firm were a cumulative 34%, according to an investor. In October 2010, the Wall Street Journal reported that Buffett had tapped Combs to eventually replace him as the chief investment officer of Berkshire Hathaway.

Further reading

• McDaniel, Kip; Vasan, Paula. "Who Is This Man?", aiCIO
  AiCIO
  aiCIO is an English-language international finance magazine owned by the publishing firm Asset International. In 2009, the magazine was honored with Folio's Silver Ozzie Award for "Best Design New Magazine, B-to-B." In 2011, the magazine was a finalist for the Jesse H...
  
  , December 2010, pp. 32–35.