Clarke said he wanted to leave to "pursue new challenges". He will step down from his job at the end of February, but will "remain available" to the company until the end of 2022, he said.

MailOnline is the news website of Britain's Daily Mail newspaper and Clarke's departure is the latest in a series of changes in top editors at the group, part of DMG Media.

DMG Media's parent company DMGT also said last month that its founder, the Rothermere family, had agreed to the terms to take the company private.

(Reporting by Andrew MacAskill; Editing by Susan Fenton)