Andrew Mason said on Thursday that he is stepping down from the post of Chief Executive Officer of Groupon after he was dismissed by the company.

He wrote in a staff memo, which was later released by him to the public, that he was fired by the company management. Groupon, which is a popular online daily deal provider, said that executive chairman Eric Lefkofsky and vice chairman Ted Leonsis will be appointed to the newly created Office of the Chief Executive while the company looks for a fulltime new Chief Executive Officer.

In his typical style, Mr. Mason wrote in an employee memo that "after four and a half intense and wonderful years as CEO of Groupon, I've decided that I'd like to spend more time with my family. Just kidding - I was fired today. If you're wondering why ... you haven't been paying attention."

The shares of the company rose 7.5 per cent in after-hours trading after the company announced the ouster of Andrew Mason. The dismissal comes just a day after the company reported disappointing earnings for the fourth quarter of the year.

Groupon's public offering had valued at the company at $16.5 billion 2011 but it is now valued at $2.97 billion as competition intensified and the company faced difficult business environment.