Seattle-based financial data firm PitchBook has named a replacement for founder John Gabbert, who earlier this month announced plans to step down as CEO.
On Wednesday, PitchBook parent company Morningstar announced Rod Diefendorf, PitchBook's chief operating officer, will also assume the role of president, taking over the leadership duties at the firm. Diefendorf and the rest of PitchBook's executive team had been handling management duties on an interim basis before Wednesday's announcement made Diefendorf's appointment official.
"(Diefendorf) has played an instrumental role in enabling PitchBook to scale its operations globally and is deeply engrained in PitchBook’s strategic roadmap, making him the best candidate to lead PitchBook in its next phase of growth," a PitchBook spokesperson said in a statement to the Business Journal.
Diefendorf will report to Morningstar CEO Kunal Kapoor.
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Diefendorf has been PitchBook's COO since 2016. Before that, according to his LinkedIn page, he spent more than two years at the Seattle-based marketing and sales tech company Marchex, and then close to three years at Marchex spinout Archeo. Morningstar said in a news release he has almost 30 years of experience.
Gabbert founded PitchBook in 2007, before which he spent about three years at Dow Jones. Gabbert planned to stay with PitchBook until the company found his replacement.
PitchBook provides data on venture capital, private equity, and merger and acquisitions markets. According to the company, PitchBook has more than 3,000 employees and more than 100,000 users. In addition to its Seattle headquarters, PitchBook has offices in London, Singapore, New York City and San Francisco.
Chicago-based research and investment firm Morningstar in 2016 acquired PitchBook in a $225 million deal. In Morningstar's first quarter 2024 financial results, released in April, the company reported that PitchBook generated $147.6 million in revenue during the quarter, up 12.6% from last year.
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