Target, MasterCard settle over data breach

NEW YORK – Target and MasterCard said they’ve agreed to settle lawsuits over Target’s December 2013 data breach.

Target said it has set aside up to $19 million for MasterCard issuers who were caught in the data breach.

MasterCard Inc. said the money will be available to banks and credit unions for operating costs and fraud-related losses on cards believed to have been affected. The settlement will go into effect if at least 90 percent of eligible accounts accept the offer by May 20.

Etsy hopes to raise $267 million in IPO

Online shopping marketplace Etsy is scheduled to go public today, raising as much as $267 million in the technology industry’s third major initial public offering of stock this year.

Etsy’s debut on Nasdaq is being closely followed in the tech world for a number of reasons. The decision to go public has led to scrutiny about whether the trinkets, clothing and craft goods that people sell on Etsy are truly homemade. The small-scale approach has been Etsy’s crucial separator from eBay, Amazon and other online services.

Etsy’s revenue came in at $196 million in 2014, more than doubling from $75 million in 2012. But it’s still not profitable. The net loss was $15 million in 2014.

Netflix posts its biggest growth in first quarter

SAN FRANCISCO – Netflix is enthralling viewers and investors alike as its popular series “House of Cards” and other original programming helped the Internet video service add subscribers at an unprecedented pace.

The company’s first-quarter report released Wednesday disclosed Netflix gained another 4.9 million subscribers from January through March, more than any other three-month period since its video streaming service’s debut eight years ago. About 2.3 million of the customer additions came within the U.S., where Netflix’s subscriber count surpassed 40 million for the first time.

All told, Netflix now has 62.3 million subscribers in more than 50 countries who collectively watched more than 10 billion hours of video during the first three months of the year.

CEO shares wealth, raises base pay to $70K

SEATTLE – For some companies, Seattle’s new $15 minimum wage law isn’t doing enough to help workers.

The CEO of Gravity Payments, a Seattle-based company that processes credit-card payments, told his employees this week he was taking a pay cut so they would earn a base wage of $70,000.

Seattle television station KING reported the announcement surprised everyone at a company meeting.

CEO Dan Price said his pay cut is worth it to make his employees happy and build loyalty.

Toyota plans plants in Mexico, China

TOKYO – Toyota plans to build new auto assembly plants in Mexico and China, ending a self-imposed three-year break from expansion over quality concerns due to massive recalls.

Toyota Motor Corp. announced Wednesday it will invest $1 billion in the plant in the Mexican state of Guanajuato, creating 2,000 jobs to make the Corolla compact car, the company’s second-biggest seller in the U.S.

Production is to start in 2019, with annual output estimated at 200,000 vehicles. That will consolidate Corolla production for North America in that plant and Toyota’s plant in Blue Springs, Mississippi.