> The CEO did not explicitly state that they were quitting because they wanted time and space to plan their future.

Yes they did.

Which word in their statement indicates causation? I generally look for the word 'because'.

Natural language tends to assume the receiver of the message shares sufficient context with the emmiter as to be able to infer their communicative intention even if it lacks some key word, or logical stepping stone.

seriously, this is a common problem online for some reason.

Why do so many people try to act as if implication isn't a thing in online interactions?