Our History
1984
Joe Mansueto establishes Morningstar in his Chicago apartment. In naming his new company, he was inspired by the last line of Henry David Thoreau‘s Walden, “The sun is but a morning star.”
1985
Morningstar Rating™ for mutual funds debuts
1991
CD-ROM-based Principia software for advisors launches
1991
Paul Rand designs a new logo for Morningstar, with the prominent “O” to represent a rising sun
1992
Morningstar creates the nine-square Morningstar Style Box™
1997
Morningstar.com® launches
1999
Morningstar establishes presence in Australia and New Zealand and expands operations into Canada
2000
Morningstar launches online retirement advice service
2000
Morningstar Europe, Morningstar Asia, and Morningstar Korea open
2001
Morningstar Direct™, Morningstar® Advisor Workstation™, Morningstar® Managed Portfolios℠, and the Morningstar Rating™ for stocks debut
2002
Morningstar® Indexes debuts
2003
Morningstar managed retirement accounts launch
2003
Don Phillips testifies before the U.S. House of Representatives; read his full testimony here
2005
Morningstar completes auction-style initial public offering
2009
Morningstar begins publishing corporate credit ratings
2011
Morningstar Analyst Rating™ for funds debuts
2012
Morningstar opens office in Dubai
2013
Next generation of Morningstar® Retirement Manager™ introduced
2016
Morningstar Sustainability Rating™ for funds debuts
2016
Morningstar acquires PitchBook Data, Inc.
2018
Revenue exceeds $1 billion
2019
Morningstar celebrates more than 35 years of empowering investor success
2019
Morningstar acquires DBRS, the world’s fourth-largest credit ratings agency
2020
Morningstar acquires Sustainalytics, bringing ESG data and ratings
2023
Morningstar brings AI from behind the curtain with the Intelligence Engine and research chatbot Mo
2024
Morningstar celebrates 40 years of empowering investor success
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Photo Credit: Design Architect Perkins+Will Photography Steve Hall © Hedrich Blessing Photographers; Marek Sikora Photography; and Unsplash.