Reports speculates that N'Zonzi could head a number of high-profile departures which Kean need to sell in order to finance some of their planned arrivals .

It would be the first of many high-profile departures by employees who crossed paths with "The Boss."

Today, after so many high-profile departures by fashion designers - Ms. Sander, Tom Ford, even Wolfgang Joop - retailers and consumers seem to have grown weary.

"Steven's high-profile departure crushed us," said Steve Barnes, the Scouts' executive for the Los Angeles area council, adding that Mr. Spielberg had been one of the council's largest donors.

Q. What do you make of the series of high-profile departures recently, like Hank McKinnell leaving as C.E.O. of Pfizer?

These resignations were part of a series of high-profile departures from Capcom, including Yoshiki Okamoto in 2003 and Keiji Inafune in 2010.

Mr. Purcell was later ousted by the board in part because of a flurry of high-profile departures, including that of Mr. Perella.

The question is how well the company would be able to deal with any high-profile departures in the future.

During pre-season Scarborough manager Nick Henry stated his hope that Coulson, along with fellow youngster Ryan Blott, would fill the gap left by some high-profile departures in the summer.

Lenny Beer, editor in chief of Hits, an industry trade magazine, and several others interviewed for this article, said that Mr. Reid was just the first of many high-profile departures that were sure to happen in the next few months.