Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones cannot use his personal bankruptcy to escape paying at least $1.1 billion in defamation damages stemming from his repeated lies about the 2012 Sandy Hook elementary school massacre, a U.S. bankruptcy judge ruled Thursday.
https://www.reuters.com/legal/jury-begins-third-day-deliberations-alex-jones-sandy-hook-defamation-trial-2022-10-12/ this seems to imply it was 965m in one case, which is close enough to a billion to say it is.
Multiple plaintiffs in a single case, similar to a class action. I think OPs point still stands.
The original post said:
It was still a single case, ruled by a single judge. It's much different than many different cases adding like like was suggested. One case, 1b in damages.