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Our History


On May 16, 1984, Joe Mansueto founded Morningstar in his Chicago apartment. Today, Morningstar is a billion-dollar company with more than 10,000 employees around the world. For over 38 years we’ve worked tirelessly to empower investors to make confident investment decisions and achieve the success they deserve. We’ve done all of this with a steadfast investment philosophy and independent view that’s unshakeable.





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.