Legendary bond investor Bill Gross has left Pacific Investment Management Co., the firm he founded in 1971, following a year of heavy outflows from his flagship bond fund and a fight with his former chief executive and heir apparent.

Gross will manage a newly created Janus Global Unconstrained Bond Fund and related strategies at the Denver-based mutual fund firm, Janus said in a news release Friday morning. The move is an abrupt change for Gross, who will be moving to a much smaller and less prestigious firm than the one he left. Janus's CEO, Richard Weil, joined Janus from Pimco in 2010, where he had been chief operating officer.