Endeavour Group is facing a dwindling stock value and its 2023/24 financial year results showed that although sales has increased, profits had been slashed to service its $1.9 billion debt.
Mr Donohue will remain in the role until a replacement is found.
"It has been an immense privilege to lead this company and to have been a part of this business for three decades," he said.
"Six years after we created Endeavour Group and with the strategy and culture well established as an independent company, now is the right time for me to pass the baton on to the next leader."
Mr Donohue has been praised by colleagues for steering the business's hundreds of pubs and clubs through COVID-19 lockdowns and for his handling of a demerger with Woolworths in 2021.
He is a rare success story of climbing the corporate ladder from the bottom right up to the top after he made his way to CEO from the starting position of a Dan Murphy's summer casual in 1994.
"Steve is a rare CEO who rose from the shop floor to the top job, and he will leave behind a significant legacy with the Endeavour Group," Endeavour chairman Ari Mervis said.
Earlier this year, Mr Donohue's leadership was questioned by board members in a spat that ended with one of the company's largest shareholders stepping down from the board, leaving the company to focus on business rather than internal conflict.
On Wednesday, Endeavour's value dropped by almost 3.5 per cent to around $4.94 per share, while the year-to-date value has fallen to a little under 6.0 per cent.
12°C