Morningstar, Inc.

Morningstar, Inc.
Public
Traded as NASDAQ: MORN
Russell 1000 Component
Industry Investment research, Investment management
Founded 1984 (1984)
Founder Joe Mansueto
Headquarters Chicago, Illinois, United States
Key people
 Joe Mansueto, Chairman
Kunal Kapoor, CEO
Revenue Increase US$911.7 million (2017)[1]
Decrease US$180.8 million (2016)[1]
Increase US$161 million (2016)[1]
AUM Increase $220 billion (2017)
Number of employees
 4,595 (2016)[2]
Website www.morningstar.com/company

Morningstar, Inc. is a global investment research and investment management firm headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, United States.

History

Founder Joe Mansueto initially had the idea for Morningstar in 1982 while reviewing mutual fund annual reports he had requested from several prominent fund managers.[3] However, it was only after a year working as a stock analyst for Harris Associates, seeing the fund industry and potential competitors up close, that he was convinced that the opportunity was there.[3][4] Morningstar was subsequently founded in 1984 from his one-bedroom Chicago apartment with an initial investment of US$80,000.[5] The name Morningstar is taken from the last sentence in Walden, a book by Henry David Thoreau; "the sun is but a morning star".[5][6]

In July 1999, Morningstar accepted an investment of US$91 million from SoftBank in return for a 20 percent stake in the company. The two companies had formed a joint venture in Japan the previous year.[6][7]

Morningstar's initial public offering occurred on May 3, 2005, with 7,612,500 shares at $18.50 each.[8] The manner in which Morningstar went public is notable. They elected to follow Google's footsteps and use the OpenIPO method rather than the traditional method. This allowed individual investors to bid on the price of the stock, and allowed all investors equal access.

As of February 2015, Joe Mansueto owned approximately 55% of the outstanding shares in Morningstar.[9]

In September 2016, Morningstar announced that it had appointed Kunal Kapoor as chief executive officer, effective January 2017, with Mansueto becoming executive chairman at the same time. [10][11]

Morningstar's current logo was designed by Paul Rand.[12] The design features the "o" in Morningstar appearing as a rising sun, which is a nod to a Henry David Thoreau quote that inspired the company's name.[5] Mansueto considers the logo "one of our most valuable assets".[12]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Morningstar Press Release". Retrieved February 2, 2017.
  2. ↑ "Morningstar Press Release". Retrieved February 2, 2017.
  3. 1 2 "Everything I Know, I Learned from Warren Buffett, Corporate Culture Article – Inc. Article". Retrieved May 3, 2007.
  4. ↑ "Joe Mansueto and Bill Nygren: The Importance of Having Conviction". Retrieved May 3, 2007.
  5. 1 2 3 Fetterman, Mindy (November 14, 2005). "USATODAY.com – Can he turn magazine bust into a boom?". USA Today. Retrieved May 3, 2007.
  6. 1 2 "A star is reborn after shake-up". USA Today. February 12, 2001. Retrieved May 21, 2007.
  7. ↑ "Company News; Softbank says it will invest $91 million in Morningstar". The New York Times. July 9, 1999. Retrieved May 3, 2007.
  8. ↑ "Morningstar Press Release". Retrieved May 3, 2007.
  9. ↑ "MORN Insider Activity". Retrieved February 27, 2015.
  10. ↑ "Morningstar U.S. | News Archive". Retrieved 2017-02-02.
  11. ↑ Yerak, Becky. "Kapoor to replace billionaire founder Mansueto as Morningstar CEO".
  12. 1 2 "Corporate Design Foundation – @issue journal". Retrieved May 21, 2007.
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