Bill Griffeth is familiar to anyone who has watched CNBC. He is one of our long time anchors on "Power Lunch" and a steady star in the business news galaxy.

Bill Griffeth

Well, he's taking a leave of absence from CNBC for a year. His last day will be Wednesday November 25. But he promises to stay closely connected to CNBC throughout his leave.

Typically when a network personality makes such a move there's all sorts of speculation as to why. Well, here's a message from Bill to put the kibosh on all that ...

"First let me address all of the conspiracy theories: I'm not sick, I'm not being pushed out, and I'm not going on Dancing With The Stars. It's pretty straightforward. My wife and I are new empty-nesters, so after 28 years of doing business on TV now seems like a good time to take a break, do some traveling, work on a couple of book projects, and shave strokes off of my golf handicap. I will probably turn up on the air from time to time during the year, so I'll still see you around."

Please, don't be gone too long, Bill.