Colin Graves will next week become Yorkshire's executive chairman.
The club announced on Friday the decision that Graves is to amalgamate his existing roles of chairman and acting chief executive.
The move is depicted as one in which Graves will "strengthen his day-to-day involvement with Yorkshire County Cricket Club".
Graves made the headlines last year with his blunt criticism of some of the Yorkshire playing staff, who were relegated to Division Two of the LV= County Championship, and issued more frank public statements this week over the circumstances of England seamer Ajmal Shahzad's impending mid-season departure from the club.
As of last year, he holds no shares in Costcutter - the retail business he founded in the 1980s and which has grown into a national chain of supermarkets.
He said: "I'm excited about taking on the joint role of chief executive and chairman at the club.
"I've resigned as chairman of Costcutter and sold my shares, and it was time to leave that business and look for pastures new.
"I've been more involved over the last few months (at Yorkshire) and really enjoyed it."
Graves is optimistic about the future of the club, with former Test players Jason Gillespie as first-team coach and Martyn Moxon director of cricket.
"There are ups and downs, as in any business, but we've now got a solid base and platform with international cricket at Headingley under our staging agreement with the ECB until 2019," he said.
"Consequently we've got a robust business model to take forward, but there are some areas we can improve in - and I'm looking forward to working hard to steer the club forward."
Graves will work in a full-time capacity at Headingley in a salaried position, and also retains his position on the England and Wales Cricket Board's management board.
