Joe Mansueto is passing the Morningstar reigns to a 19-year company insider. Yet the self-made billionaire is not saying goodbye just yet to his mutual fund ratings giant.

Joe Mansueto Morningstar, Inc. Chairman and Chief Executive Officer

M* president Kunal Kapoor, 41, will take over as CEO on January 1, 2017, while Mansueto, 60 (his birthday was Saturday), will become executive chairman. And Don Phillips will step down from the board "to limit the number of inside directors," though Phillips (who served as CEO in the late 1990s before Mansueto took over again in 2000) will still serve as a managing director. Kapoor will take Phillips' spot on the M* board.

Mansueto, who founded M* in 1984 and is still its majority owner, insists that he'll "still be very involved with Morningstar." Crain's Chicago Business points out that, as of March 1, Mansueto owned about 57 percent of the company (24.4 million shares), and the paper reports that Mansueto's memo to M* employees reveals that he has "no plans to sell any" of his M* shares.

Kunal Kapoor Morningstar, Inc. President, Incoming Chief Executive Officer

"My role will focus more on strategy, capital allocation, advising Kunal and our senior team, and leading our board of directors," Mansueto states. "I've given this change a lot of thought over the past year, and I'm looking forward to having a more flexible schedule and more time to think about investing and technology."

Mansueto praises Kapoor as "a Morningstar veteran who lives and breathes [the] mission of creating great products that help investors reach their financial goals."

"I can't think of a better person than Kunal to lead Morningstar as we head into the next stage of our company's innovation and growth," Mansueto states. "Kunal has a unique ability to bring people together to help solve problems for investors, and I'm confident that his energy and management talent will helps us drive operational excellence and future growth."

Kapoor hints at M*'s "next stage of innovation and growth" in light of industry changes like the DoL's infamous fiduciary regulation taking effect next year.

"We have a unique opportunity to leverage our capabilities in research, data, and software to solve problems for investors," Kapoor states. "We'll continue to invest in our workforce, expand our core strengths in design and technology, and build on our strong position in the industry."

Kapoor joined M* in 1997 as a data analyst and he later rose to director of business strategy for M*'s international operations. Mansueto promoted Kapoor to president of Morningstar Investment Services in 2007, president of the data division in 2012, head of global client solutions in 2013, head of products and client solutions in 2014, and president of all M* a year ago. He headlined M*'s giant, flagship, RIA-centric Investment Conference in both 2015 and 2016.

Kapoor is an alumnus of both Monmouth College and the University of Chicago. 

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