Eckhard Cordes, the Mercedes chief passed over to be the new head of parent group DaimlerChrysler, made a profit of almost €500,000 (£344,500) by cashing in share options the day after he handed in his resignation.
Daimler, whose chief executive for the past decade, Jürgen Schrempp, abruptly stepped down last Thursday, confirmed that Mr Cordes had exercised his options on 92,500 shares a day later at €34.40 and sold them the same day at €39.58 each.
The transaction gave added momentum to reports that Mr Cordes would leave Mercedes within a matter of weeks.
The 54-year-old executive, who has presided over Mercedes' fall from grace with declining sales and 1.3 million cars recalled for technical problems, made €479,150 (before tax) on the deal but sources said there was no question of insider dealing as it took place a day after Daimler published its half-year results.
According to reports yesterday, Mr Cordes' wish to step down was motivated by his glacial relations with Dieter Zetsche, the Chrysler chief who is to take over from Mr Schrempp on January 1. "I can't get on with him," the Süddeutsche Zeitung newspaper reported him as saying yesterday. His proffered resignation, after being picked out by Mr Schrempp as his successor of choice previously, leaves a big gap at the top of the group's executive team.
Mr Zetsche was a long-standing critic of Mr Schrempp's strategy, notably the loss-making partnership with Japan's Mitsubishi, and could force out senior colleagues.
Reports suggested that the Daimler supervisory board was experiencing severe problems in choosing an internal successor to Mr Cordes. Among those mentioned are Thomas Weber, Daimler's research director, and Mercedes distribution director Klaus Maier as well as, temporarily, Mr Zetsche himself.
Some observers suggest that Wolfgang Reitzle, the former BMW executive who later ran Ford's premier automotive group, including Jaguar, could take over. He now runs engineering group Line.
Another external candidate cited is Carl-Peter Forster, another former BMW executive who ran Opel and has since become vice-president of General Motors Europe.
Further board changes at Daimler could follow, with Hilmar Kopper, supervisory board chairman stepping down before his contract runs out in 2007.
He is the former chief executive of Deutsche Bank which last week cut its stake in Daimler from 10.4% to 6.9%, making €1.3bn.
