PitchBook Announces Founder John Gabbert’s Departure Plans

SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--PitchBook, the premier data provider for the private and public equity markets, today announced John Gabbert will be stepping down as Chief Executive Officer. Gabbert will work closely with Morningstar CEO Kunal Kapoor over the next several weeks to appoint his successor. In the meantime, PitchBook Chief Operating Officer Rod Diefendorf and PitchBook’s executive leadership team will assume management responsibilities and continue business as usual.

Gabbert founded PitchBook in 2007 with a vision for providing transparency into the global private capital markets through data, research, and tools. He established proprietary data operations processes to collect and verify hard-to-find financial datasets across private equity, venture capital, and M&A markets. Building on this foundation, PitchBook then introduced news and institutional research as well as a suite of workflow and analysis tools, which today create the PitchBook Platform.

“The past 17 years have been an incredible journey,” said John Gabbert. “As I reflect on PitchBook’s growth and the path we took to get here, it’s our people that have made this all possible. I’m so thankful for our team’s ability to anticipate and exceed customer expectations, while supporting and uplifting each other along the way. I’m proud of the business and culture we’ve built together and am confident in the leadership team and talent we have to continue driving PitchBook’s success.”

In 2016, Morningstar acquired PitchBook in a transaction that valued it at $225 million, and it has consistently been a strong growth driver for the company. Under Gabbert’s leadership, the PitchBook segment grew to $551.9 million in revenue in 2023 and expanded its customer base to more than 100,000 global users. Morningstar also acquired LCD in 2022 for $650 million and integrated it into the PitchBook Platform.

“John has been a fantastic steward of the business he founded, and investors have more transparency into private markets because of it. PitchBook is embedded in customer workflows because it is consistently expanding its data and research across asset classes, geographies and sectors,” said Kunal Kapoor, CEO of Morningstar. “John’s passion for people, customers, and flawless execution were among the many reasons Morningstar was first drawn to invest in PitchBook, and the success of our partnership gives me great pride. The team is well positioned to continue executing on this vision.”

About PitchBook

PitchBook is a financial data and software company that provides transparency into the capital markets to help professionals discover and execute opportunities with confidence and efficiency. PitchBook collects and analyzes detailed data on the entire venture capital, private equity and M&A landscape—including public and private companies, investors, funds, investments, exits and people. The company's data and analysis are available through the PitchBook Platform, industry news and in-depth reports. Founded in 2007, PitchBook operates globally with more than 3,000 team members. Its platform, data and research serve over 100,000 professionals around the world. In 2016, Morningstar acquired PitchBook, which now operates as an independent subsidiary.