Plenty of questions swirl around the surprise news today of Broadwing CEO David Huber surrendering his crown. A spooky-smart scientist, Huber has long been regarded as the Captain Ahab of all-optical networks. He famously left Ciena, a company he helped found, because its management refused to take his advice and pursue an all-optical strategy. He created Corvis as a way of putting his money (and a hell of a lot of other peoples') where his mouth was.

A year ago, after Broadwing's board gave Huber a $100,000 (or 32%) raise, Washington Post columnist Steven Pearlstein wrote, "Dave Huber may be a genius when it comes to physics, but his business judgment has been a disaster so far." As CEO of Corvis, Pearlstein pointed out, Huber burned about half a billion dollars in cash in four years, buying unprofitable companies in which he'd invested (including a certain all-optical network) and waging a bitter legal fight with Ciena over patents. "A reclusive and controlling shareholder was allowed to use other people's money in a vain attempt to prove he was right all along," Pearlstein wrote.

Broadwing's financial picture brightened since then, prompting me to wonder at times whether Huber would one day have the last laugh he seemed to be hoping for all these years. Is today's announcement the universe's peremptory response to his long search for redemption? Has he finally been taught that sometimes the best technology isn't the best business? Was he wrong all along?

My guess is that some of the mystery surrounding Huber's demotion will dissipate when the company reports its fourth-quarter earnings on Feb. 23. Hopefully the company can shed some light on this.

E-mail me at egubbins@prismb2b.com.