Word: multibillion
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1990-1999
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Popular with both parties, but the multibillion-dollar cost could be a barrier...
...race to build what has been dubbed the High Speed Civil Transport (HSCT) is a multibillion-dollar gamble fraught with technological challenges. To be profitable, the plane will have to carry more than twice as many passengers as the Concorde, operate at higher speeds, span greater distances, use less fuel, run quieter and produce far less pollution. Can do, say the plane's advocates, though any such plane isn't likely to fly until at least the year...
...scientific achievements but has also paid handsome financial dividends. For example, basic studies of bacterial resistance to viruses led to the discovery of restriction enzymes, the biological scissors that can snip DNA segments at precisely defined locations. That discovery in turn made possible recombinant- DNA technology, which spawned the multibillion-dollar biotechnology industry. And the laser, now the vital component of devices ranging from printers to compact disc players to surgical instruments, was a serendipitous by-product of research on molecular structure...
...fairy tale is heading for a no-no era denouement. In 1976 ex- encyclopedia salesman William Farley bought a California citrus processor with just $25,000 of his own money. Within years, he ruled over a multibillion-dollar empire. Then came Farley's folly: the 1989 leveraged buyout of sheet-and-towel giant West Point-Pepperell, for $1.6 billion. Burdened by debt, he endured the junk-bond collapse, the recession and the gulf war. But last week Farley accepted a "prepackaged" bankruptcy plan that will slash his share of West Point-Pepperell from 95% to 5%, the biggest blow...
Since last summer, a flurry of crushing financial blows has turned an already brutal culling process into a full-scale rout. The airlines were loaded with debt after a decade of mergers, frantic expansion and multibillion-dollar orders for new aircraft. The approach of the gulf war brought a sharp run-up in oil prices, adding $2 billion, or 12.5%, to the industry's jet-fuel costs. Then, in a desperate bid to fill seats as the recession deepened and war jitters sidelined travelers, U.S. airlines slashed fares. By last April, 95% of all U.S. air passengers were traveling...