Warren Buffett protégé Tracy Britt is facing questions about her CEO-picking skills — again.
The 29-year-old chairman of the billionaire’s Benjamin Moore paint brand — who last month was forced to fire the CEO she had tapped last year amid allegations he had harassed female employees — has confused insiders by hiring a former apparel exec to run the company.
Sources said Britt appears to have hired Searles only days after her Sept. 14 wedding in Omaha, Neb., in which Buffett gave her away, in place of her late father.
“It must have been a stressful wedding,” a Benjamin Moore source said.
Indeed, Britt was meanwhile being forced by Buffett to fire Bob Merritt, a 61-year-old restaurant veteran whose appointment raised eyebrows as he’s married to Britt’s close friend Jill DiLosa, a 36-year-old hedge-fund manager.
Searles has held executive positions at retail chains including Kids “R” Us, Wilson’s Leather and most recently Stage Stores, a lower-end department-store chain.
In an internal video broadcast to employees, Searles surprised some employees when he mentioned that he had once worked at Benjamin Moore, sources said.
“I was there for more than 20 years, and I know several other people who were, too,” said one former exec. “Nobody has heard of the guy.”
Benjamin Moore didn’t respond to a request for comment.