George Iacobescu is to retire from Canary Wharf Group (CWG) after 36 years with the company.
In a statement on Wednesday, the company revealed its chairman's last day would be 1 July. He will be replaced by Nigel Wilson.
Iacobescu said: 'It has been the honour and the challenge of a lifetime to have worked with an extraordinary group of people transforming a derelict dock into a thriving mixed-use city district. CWG is the first company on the planet to have built an entirely new central business district from scratch.'
CWG has been under pressure amid falling demand for office space but the company has been asserting mixed uses at the estate.
iacobescu said: 'Today, Canary Wharf is home to thousands of residents, businesses large and small across many sectors, one of the UK’s busiest shopping centres as well as parks, gardens, shops, restaurants and bars. It is a thriving community in the heart of the old East End.'
'With the continuing growth of the tech sector, health and life sciences, new leisure activities and the greening of the Wharf, there are exciting times ahead for the estate.'
He became CEO in 1997 and chairman in 2011.
He was knighted in 2012 for services to charity, community and the financial services industry, the only Romanian born British citizen to be honoured this way.
His replacement is bets known as CEO of insurer Legal and General, which he led for almost 12 years.
