Microsoft fired CIO Stuart Scott in an unusually public way. Typically, the exits of IT leaders are handled more obliquely, whether they chose to leave or not, with the handy "left to pursue other interests" boilerplate. With others, such as HealthSouth's CIO fraudster, there's no mystery. Below are some recent examples of CIO departures.

Kenneth Livesay, former CIO of HealthSouth, left the company in 2003 after he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud, securities fraud and filing false records, according to U.S. Department of Justice documents. (Read "Sarbanes-Oxley: The IT Manager's New Risks and Responsibilities.")

Thomas Dolan, CIO of Cablevision, was put on "unpaid leave" in May 2005, according to Securities and Exchange Commission documents. He is currently a director at the company, of which his family owns a controlling interest. (To read more about Dolan's time at Cablevision, read this 2002 article.)

Allan Woods left as vice chairman and CIO at Mellon Financial in September 2005 to "pursue other interests," the company said at the time.

William Halnon left Spherion in January 2007, after two years as CIO, "to pursue other opportunities," Spherion said in a statement, and was replaced by interim CIO Joel Steigelfest.

Josita Todd left CMGI in early 2007 "to pursue other opportunities," according to a company statement. Todd had joined CMGI in January 2006 to succeed interim CIO Dennis Hughes.