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Warren Buffett’s announcement Saturday that he would be retiring as CEO of Berkshire Hathaway came as a surprise to lots of people, including the person who was elected to succeed him the next day. Greg Abel has been Buffett’s right-hand man for many years and the public heir apparent for the past five, but Buffett, in making his announcement, said he hadn’t told Abel the moment was coming.

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Buffett, 94, will stay on as chairman at Berkshire Hathaway, but by the end of this year, Abel will be in the driver’s seat—and will have a big legacy to follow. Buffett took over Berkshire Hathaway in 1965. Things began to take off in 1978, when he convinced his friend Charlie Munger to come on board. Together, the two created a company that was the envy of the investing world. The price of Berkshire Class B shares (NYSE: BRK-B), the most widely held shares of the company, has gone up more than 2,000% since they began trading in 1996. The price of Class A shares (NYSE: BRK-A), held by Buffett and institutional shareholders, is up 42,413% since they began trading in 1985.

Abel is fairly well known to people who closely follow Berkshire Hathaway, but he’s less familiar to people who only know Buffett. Here’s a look at the man who will try to fill Warren Buffett’s shoes.

Who is Greg Abel?

Abel, 62, currently serves as vice chair of non-insurance operations at Berkshire. He’s also the chair of Berkshire Hathaway Energy, which Buffett called one of the company’s four “jewels” in his 2021 shareholder letter. (The other three are Berkshire’s property and casualty insurance businesses, Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad, and the company’s stake in Apple.)

He has been the designated successor to Buffett for at least four years and has joined Buffett onstage at the company’s investor meeting for the past several years, even before Munger’s death in November 2023.

Away from the office, Abel is a huge hockey fan and serves as assistant volunteer coach for his son’s team in his hometown of Des Moines, Iowa. He’s said to have a quick wit and nurtures strong personal relationships.

“He’s not loud or bombastic, but he’s 500% friendly,” Mark Oman, a retired Wells Fargo executive and friend of Abel’s told Fortune.