The Atlanta telecom disclosed March 1 that it would pull the refinancing, which included a $300 million term loan and a revolver that could reach $150 million. In a brief statement, EarthLink blamed market conditions.

"I wasn't going to do a stupid deal," Huff explained more bluntly at the Monday event hosted by Deutsche Bank AG. "It just didn't make any sense to me."

EarthLink announced the financing, led by Bank of America Merrill Lynch, on Feb. 19. Bank of America declined to comment on the offering.

The carrier planned to use the proceeds and cash on hand to pay senior notes that carry 10.5% interest. The notes had been issued by ITC DeltaCom Inc., which EarthLink purchased in 2010.

The refinancing would have saved the company $15 million in interest expenses per year, Moody's Investors Service estimated.

EarthLink pulled the offer on March 1, a little more than a week after announcing the deal. Huff said Monday that when the new debt came to market, the pricing was worse than expected.

One source suggested that EarthLink may have been embarrassed to terminate the offering so quickly, especially amid a favorable credit market. The telecom announced the refinancing after its 2012 earnings report, the person noted, so it wasn't as though new financial data came to light during the offering.

The shift in the price caught the telecom off guard.

"I don't know whether it was just the bankers didn't know what they were talking about," Huff said Monday.

EarthLink had $204.5 million in cash and securities at the close of 2012. It didn't need the money for operations, the CEO told investors, but had seen an opportunity to reduce the cost of its debt.

"I wasn't going to be led to the trough and do something stupid," Huff said.

-- Jonathan Schwarzberg contributed to this report.