Greg Roebuck is resigning as chief executive and managing director of Carsales.com.au, a company he co-founded in 1997, after nine years in the top job.
He will retire from Carsales completely and will be replaced by current chief operating officer Cameron McIntyre in March.
Carsales' chairman Jeffrey Browne said Mr Roebuck is leaving the company in a very strong position.
"The board is extremely grateful for his leadership and for his outstanding contribution which has seen carsales develop from a loss-making start-up to an ASX top 100 business with a market capitalisation of $2.7 billion," Mr Browne said in a statement to the market.
Mr Roebuck, Mr McIntyre and Mr Browne will soon visit Carsales' overseas partners and subsidiaries in South Korea, Thailand, Malaysia and South America.
"It is important when you have investments to actually look and understand more about what you are investing in, and you can do that remotely ... but I think for Greg to sign off is courtesy and good practice and for Cam to go and present his credentials personally I think would be greatly appreciated," Mr Browne said.
Carsales shares were 2.3 per cent lower in trading on Thursday at $10.96.
Mr Roebuck will also be leaving the board of Carsales to give Mr McIntyre a "clear runway". Mr McIntyre will take his spot on the board.
"When we started the company 20 years ago, I never imagined that today we would be operating in multiple languages across nine countries and have a depth and diversity of products that make us a world-class business," Mr Roebuck said in the market announcement.
Mr Roebuck, who is turning 57 in a few weeks, plans to lead a life of leisure in the short term. None of his plans involve another executive role, although he is open to another directorship. He has $33 million of Carsales stock and has been earning a multimillion-dollar salary for some years.
"I am a personality that will never find it hard to find things to do," he told Fairfax Media.
"I have got a few itches I want to scratch. I want to get back into my woodwork, I want to be a better musician than I have had time to be and I want to get fit. I love technology and will continue to pursue interests in technology ... whether there is ever any commercial outcomes is less likely."
Mr Roebuck plays the piano and guitar and says he has already built a computer game console and foosball table.
Mr McIntyre will start the job on March 17 on an annual salary of about $1.3 million plus bonuses. It is not a fixed contract.
He said he would continue the company's process of continual change and evolution.
"I am really looking forward to building on the legacy that Greg is leaving," he said on Thursday. Asked about the market's response to his appointment, a 2.3 per cent decline in the share price, he said Carsales management does not spend any time looking at the share price.
"The share price will do whatever the share price does. Our focus is on growing our business ... I have no offence [at the share price]."
Mr McIntyre has been at Carsales since 2007 when he was appointed chief financial officer and company secretary.
