Peter Adamson, who has spent the past nine years of his career investing for philanthropist Eli Broad, has been talent-spotted by the doyenne of daytime television, Oprah Winfrey. This month, Adamson, 47, starts his new job overseeing Winfrey’s estimated $2.4 billion fortune.

Although Winfrey’s wealth is vast, it won’t be a stretch for Adamson, who managed $2.1 billion as CIO of the Broad Art Foundation and the Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation. Known for his willingness to embrace risk, Adamson achieved a positive net return of 24.8 percent in 2009 and an annualized net return of 8.8 percent over the past five years. And just 24 hours before the news broke, Adamson received plaudits from Institutional Investor at its inaugural U.S. Investment Management Awards as the best CIO of a large U.S. foundation. It looks like Winfrey made the right choice.