Morningstar, Inc.

Morningstar, Inc.
Public
Traded as NASDAQ: MORN
Industry Investment research, Investment management
Founded 1984 (1984)
Founder Joe Mansueto
Headquarters Chicago, Illinois, United States
Key people

Kunal Kapoor
Chief Executive Officer[1]

Joe Mansueto
Executive Chairman
Revenue Increase US$798.6 million (2016)[2]
Decrease US$180.8 million (2016)[2]
Increase US$161 million (2016)[2]
Number of employees
 4,595 (2016)[3]
Website morningstar.com
corporate.morningstar.com

Morningstar, Inc. is an 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.[4] 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.[4][5] Morningstar was subsequently founded in 1984 from his one-bedroom Chicago apartment with an initial investment of US$80,000.[6] The name Morningstar is taken from the last sentence in Walden, a book by Henry David Thoreau; "the sun is but a morning star".[6][7]

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.[7][8]

Morningstar's initial public offering occurred on May 3, 2005, with 7,612,500 shares at $18.50 each.[9] 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.[10]

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. [11][1]

Corporate identity

Morningstar's current logo is notable in that it was designed by Paul Rand. Mansueto sought Rand out in 1989 after deciding that the company's design standards needed to be improved, and that the first step would be a redesign of its logo.[12] After several phone calls, letters and finally a trip to meet Rand in person, Mansueto convinced him to work on the logo, which was completed within four months.[12] The new design features the "o" in Morningstar appearing as a rising sun, which is a nod to the quote that inspired the company's name.[6] While the fee for this work ($50,000) was a significant amount at the time for the company, Mansueto considers it "one of our most valuable assets".[12]

See also

References

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