HUBER HANGS IT UP

To many, the resignation of Broadwing Chief Executive David Huber last week is a long-awaited act of humility from a famously headstrong man. Huber founded Corvis (the equipment vendor that would become Broadwing through acquisition) rather than take “no” for an answer when his former outfit, Ciena, refused to follow his all-optical networking strategy. (That strategy finally fizzled out last year.) As Corvis burned through half a billion in cash, its sales dwindling, critics called Huber — an engineering Ph.D. and prolific patent-holder — proof that brilliant scientists don't always make brilliant businessmen. Still, Huber became one of the 30 richest people in America (and according to one source, the world's richest Mormon) in 2000, when Corvis's high-flying IPO gave him a net worth north of $8 billion. Last week, Huber's stock was worth closer to $80 million, but heading higher. The stock rose nearly 5% after he resigned.