(Bloomberg) -- Warren Buffett said Greg Abel, who was named his Berkshire Hathaway Inc. heir apparent in 2021, has already taken over most of his responsibilities at the conglomerate.

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“He does all the work and I take the bows,” Buffett, 92, said in a CNBC interview Wednesday. “It’s exactly what I wanted.”

Abel’s more than two-decade track record at the conglomerate has included high-profile dealmaking and overseeing its sprawling non-insurance businesses, from the BNSF railroad to Dairy Queen.

“They haven’t seen me at the BNSF railroad for 10, 12 years,” Buffett said. “He’s a big improvement on me, but don’t tell anybody.”

Buffett and Abel were speaking in Japan, where Berkshire has invested in a group of trading houses. Those investments have gained an estimated $4.5 billion since 2020, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

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