Shares in Moneysupermarket (LON:MONY) slumped around 7% on Wednesday with the news that founder Simon Nixon would be stepping down from the board at the end of December.
Nixon has not been chief executive since 2008 - he is currently non-executive deputy chairman - and he has been reducing his stake in the company for a number of years.
Indeed, it was also reported today that Nixon cashed in a further £98mln as he sold 32mln shares (5.8% of the company), to reduce his stake to 6.9%.
“In the last two years Simon has been reducing his shareholding and increasing his involvement in other activities,” said chairman Bruce Carnegie-Brown.
“As a result, we have agreed that he will step down from the board at the end of the year.
“We are grateful to Simon for his contribution to the group and to the board."
Carnegie-Brown highlighted that since being founded by Nixon Moneysupermarket has gone on to become arguably the most successful UK e-commerce business created in the 1990s.
Moneysupermarket shares fell 23.4p or 7.13% each, to trade at 304.80p.
Nixon is not able to sell any more of his shares until the company has released its financial results for the twelve months to December 31, which is anticipated in March 2016.