The story
Founded by Mario Gabelli.1
The company was founded in 1976 to provide discretionary investment services to a broad spectrum of investors. In February 1999, the company held an IPO on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol GBL. Per an agreement with the company upon its IPO, Mario Gabelli received 10 percent of its pretax profits in compensation.
In August 2005, the company elevated the brand name 'GAMCO' from its asset management business to become the name of the entire company.
From Wikipedia’s article on GAMCO Investors, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.7