Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK.A) (NYSE: BRK.B) is one of the most famous companies in modern history. If you had invested $1,000 in the stock at the turn of the century, it would be worth $9,800 today, well more than the roughly $5,000 -- assuming you reinvested the dividends -- that an investment in the S 500 Index would have grown to. Given that backdrop, it's understandable that a lot of investors want to own the shares. But there are a few things you need to understand if you do decide to buy it.

Berkshire Hathaway and its CEO, Warren Buffett, are practically synonymous. He has run the company for decades, using a unique management style. In fact, he's more of an investor than a chief executive, having been trained by Wall Street legends like Philip Fisher and Benjamin Graham. With Berkshire Hathaway he's actually created a holding company, which means it's a company that owns other companies.

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