The company was founded in 1979 by Gideon Gartner. Originally a private company, the Gartner Group was launched publicly the first time in the 1980s, then acquired by Saatchi & Saatchi, a London-based advertising agency, and then acquired in 1990 by some of its executives, with funding from Bain Capital and Dun & Bradstreet. The company went public again in 1993. In 2000 the name was simplified to Gartner. Gene Hall has been the CEO of the company since August 2004.