NEW YORK—Warren Buffett plucked a second little-known hedge-fund manager from obscurity to handle a portion of Berkshire Hathaway Inc.’s investment portfolio.
The selection of Ted Weschler, managing partner of Charlottesville, Va.-based Peninsula Capital Advisors, is the most recent move to prepare Berkshire for the day when Mr. Buffett, 81 years old, will no longer run the company.
Mr. Weschler, 50, will join Todd Combs, selected by Mr. Buffett last year, in handling a fraction of Berkshire’s equity portfolio for the time being. When Mr. Buffett steps aside, the two men, and perhaps a third person, will have responsibility for all of Berkshire’s equity and debt portfolio, Berkshire said in a statement.
Mr. Weschler told investors in his hedge fund that he will be winding down the fund as he prepares to join Berkshire early next year, the statement said.
“With Todd and Ted on board, Berkshire is well positioned for successor investment management at the time Mr. Buffett is no longer CEO,” the statement said.
Mr. Weschler didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. His fund, which he has run for more than a decade, held positions in nine stocks valued at a total of $2 billion as of June 30, according to a regulatory filing. According to an article on Fortune’s website, Peninsula also holds short positions that don’t have to be disclosed in the filing.
Peninsula’s largest position was a 1.4% stake in DirecTV Group Inc. The holding was worth about $508 million at June 30.
Berkshire Hathaway Chairman Warren Buffett
According to Fortune, Mr. Weschler appeared on Mr. Buffett’s radar when he won Mr. Buffett’s annual charity auction with a bid of $2,626,311 in 2010. He won again this year, topping his prior-year bid by $100. The winner of the auction gets to dine with Mr. Buffett.
Winners of the auction are usually announced by the Glide Foundation, the San Francisco-based charity that receives the proceeds. Mr. Weschler had elected to remain anonymous until Monday, when Fortune revealed that he had been the top bidder.
It was at the second meal that Mr. Buffett asked Mr. Weschler to shut down his hedge fund and work for Berkshire, Fortune reported.
Mr. Weschler told Mr. Buffett he’d take the job “within weeks” of the July 26 meeting, according to Fortune.
In recent years, Mr. Weschler has made several donations to Republicans and Democrats, according to OpenSecrets.org, a site that tracks political contributions.
In 2010, Mr. Weschler gave $10,000 to both the Democratic Party of Virginia and the Republican State Committee of Delaware, according to OpenSecrets. In 2009, he gave to Michael Castle, a former Republican governor of Delaware and former member of the U.S. House of Representatives, according to the site. That same year, he gave to Robert Wittman, a Republican representative for Virginia’s 1st congressional district and Tom Perriello, a former Democratic representative of Virgina’s 5th congressional district, according to the site.