Oh, I agree. Buffett choose Todd Combs for the very reason that Combs is an excellent allocator/investor with Buffett's same thinking.
I also am guessing that Buffett bought IBM for two reasons. One, that Combs showed him that "tech" firms like IBM and Intel are not fly by night dot coms, and Two, IBM is on a course to buy back about 8-10% of its own outstanding stock year after year, and that Buffett can sit on his tookas and make 8% in addition to the the 1.5% paid dividend.
Of course, using that analysis, Intel is a much better buy than IBM. BUT Buffett likes a long track record. Intel has been buying its stock back for 10 years, IBM has been doing so since 1984, 27 years.