24/7 Wall St.

When investors and the public think of Warren Buffett, chances are high that they think of his company or Mr. Buffett very positively. Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK-A) has become one of the most powerful companies in the world in recent years.

After having moved from being considered an insurance holding company to a truly diversified conglomerate at S&P, now Buffett’s empire has expanded handily with the acquisitions of Precision Castparts ($37 billion) and BNSF ($26 billion) in rail.

With all of the hoopla about Buffett, most investors might just assume that Berkshire Hathaway has a full on AAA rating. Not so. In fact, it is down at A+, according to Fitch — with the possibility of a credit pressure ahead.

Fitch Ratings assigned A+ ratings to seven new traunches of senior notes issued by Berkshire Hathaway and by its wholly owned finance subsidiary Berkshire Hathaway Finance Corporation. The total offering was right at $9 billion.

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