1 billion

Electric car charging startup Better Place is coming to California, as Bay Area leaders launch plans to accelerate the adoption of electric vehicles.

General Motors has a market capitalization of just $2.1 billion. The stock, which now trades for a little more than $3.50 a share, hit a 70-year low on Thursday.

Nordic countries agreed to lend struggling Iceland $2.5 billion to help it recover from a series of crippling bank failures, bolstering a $2.1 billion aid package from the International Monetary Fund, their governments announced Thursday.

Hewlett-Packard delivered something as rare as the do-do bird these days: An upside earnings surprise. HP reassured Wall Street on Tuesday by releasing preliminary fourth quarter earnings and an outlook that was better than expected (statement).

The company said its fourth quarter revenue would be $33.6 billion, compared to Wall Street estimates of $33.1 billion.

It’s been a little more than a year since YouTube announced the launch of its system to identify videos uploaded to its site that contained, without authorization, copyrighted content from television program and movie producers.

The University of Texas at Austin endowment has declined by nearly $1 billion this year as a result of the turmoil in worldwide financial markets.

The strategic investment, which brings its total funds raised to a little more than $100 million, seems to support its $1 billion valuation.

A federal judge has given Oracle until February 13 to provide a specific dollar amount to settle a lawsuit it filed against SAP last year.  The suit alleges that TomorrowNow, an SAP subsidiary, illegally accessed Oracle copyright material and has asked for at least $1 billion in damages.

Consortium of five major studios plans to put digital projectors in 20,000 screens in North America, a move that could substantially cut costs due to savings on prints and distribution.