Led by Warren Buffett, one of the most famous investors to ever live — and one of the most successful — Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A -0.99%) (BRK.B -1.18%) has delivered incredible returns to shareholders over its long history. Buffett knows how to “pick ’em,” as they say.

Berkshire’s success is built on the investing philosophy of Buffett and his late business partner, Charlie Munger, which revolves around finding “wonderful” businesses and sticking to them long term — not unlike our philosophy at the Motley Fool. These wonderful companies include some of the biggest names in the world: Coca-Cola, American Express, and Apple, to name just a few.

Their approach made both men billionaires, and made the company the only non-tech U.S. firm to surpass $1 trillion in market capitalization.

The growth of $1,000 of Berkshire Hathaway stock

If you had invested $1,000 into Berkshire five years ago, today your investment would be worth north of $2,300. That’s a 132% gain or 18% annualized — not a bad return! The S&P 500 is up just 85% over the same period. Berkshire’s return beat even the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite, which was up 111%.

The best time to invest in Berkshire would have been long ago, but it’s better late than never. Berkshire is a phenomenal company to this day. You may not enjoy quite the growth rate that it has seen in years past — and, yes, Buffett is getting up there in age — but Berkshire is still making sound investment decisions and growing shareholder wealth.

Investors can expect the company to be guided by the same philosophy and values for many years to come. The future continues to look bright for Berkshire.