HUSEIN CUMBER

SENIOR ADVISOR, BRIGHTLINE HOLDINGS, JACKSONVILLE

Brightline Holdings is the parent company of Brightline, the first privately owned and operated intercity passenger rail system developed in the U.S. in over 100 years. Brightline Florida connects Miami to Orlando and may eventually extend to Tampa. The company’s second project, Brightline West, broke ground in 2024 and will connect Southern California to Las Vegas. “High-speed rail is flourishing in places like Europe and Asia, and our success at Brightline has been the impetus for a rail renaissance in the United States,” Cumber says.

EDUCATION: Duke University (BA)

FIRST JOB: I was a real estate analyst for the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. The holdings were in Palm Beach County, and the Foundation decided it wanted to monetize its real estate assets in the late 1990s. I was responsible for identifying the highest and best use for each individual parcel that totaled approximately 14,000 acres.

SOMETHING SURPRISING: I was pre-med and was convinced until my junior year of college that I would be a plastic surgeon. I realized I did not like blood or needles.

DREAM ALTERNATE CAREER: Stand-up comedian, although my family does not think I would have been successful.

PASSION PROJECT: I did an oral and written family history for my parents’ 50th wedding anniversary. Every family has a story, and the vignettes of how my Pakistani dad and Bangladeshi mom came to the U.S. and built a successful family business would have been lost a generation from now. We interviewed every extended family member and developed a family tree going back hundreds of years.

FAVORITE NONPROFIT: Duke University. I am on the board of the Sanford School for Public Policy. Every executive job involves the need to understand how public policy is changing your industry to keep competitive and ahead of the competition. Today, national security, transportation and energy policy are the three areas I am most focused on.

INDUSTRY TREND: Ten years ago, ride sharing was still in its infancy. Today it is part of everyday culture. Brightline has changed the way people perceive passenger rail travel and communities are now trying to figure out how to connect to our system. Automation is the next dominant trend that will transform the automobile, truck, aviation and rail sectors. And that will make the way we move freight and people more efficient and cheaper.