Netscape Names John Heins Vice President for Sales and International Operations - Company Operations

Edge: Work-Group Computing Report, Feb 28, 2000

Netscape Communications, a leading Internet company and a subsidiary of America Online, Monday announced the appointment of John Heins as Vice President for Sales and International Operations, responsible for all of Netscape's sales efforts as well as its fast-growing international operations.

Mr. Heins will report to Jim Martin, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Netscape Netcenter.

Mr. Heins will play a key role as part of Netscape's leadership team, overseeing all advertising sales and commerce partnerships for Netscape's online brands in the United States and around the world, and holding strategic operations responsibility for the Netscape International Division, which operates local language versions of the Netscape Netcenter Web site in 17 countries.

He will also manage the brand's relationship with AOL's Business Affairs group, AOL Interactive Marketing, and AOL's worldwide joint venture partners.

A highly regarded media executive, Mr. Heins has a demonstrated track record in building successful businesses, as well as a strong background in print journalism. For the past seven years, he served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Gruner Jahr USA Publishing, a division of Bertelsmann AG and one of the largest consumer magazine publishers in the United States.

As President and CEO, Heins was responsible for overseeing market-leading titles such as Family Circle, McCall's, Parents, Child, Fitness, American Homestyle & Gardening and YM, as well as expanding Gruner & Jahr's new-media, custom-publishing and licensing operations. Heins led the company's acquisition of the women's magazine division of the New York Times Co., which nearly tripled Gruner Jahr USA's size.

Jim Martin, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Netscape Netcenter, said: "Netscape is expanding rapidly both here and around the globe, as consumers worldwide respond to the tremendous convenience we bring to their business and personal lives. John brings a tremendous track record as a senior media executive, a keen sense of what consumers want, and a deep understanding of the global marketplace to the task of ensuring that we make the most of our international opportunities. We're very excited to have him as part of our leadership team as we continue to build momentum in the online marketplace."

Mr. Heins said: "The Netscape brand is known worldwide for innovation and creativity. The opportunity to help build a global business based on that reputation is the chance of a lifetime, and I'm looking forward to helping take Netscape to the next level."

Before his appointment as President and C.E.O. of Gruner Jahr, Mr. Heins was Assistant to the Chief Executive of Gruner Jahr's international division in Paris, France. Prior to his tenure at Gruner Jahr, Mr. Heins was a staff writer for Forbes Magazine in both New York, NY and Los Angeles, CA for six years.

Mr. Heins joins Netscape at a time of tremendous momentum for the company. The Netscape Netcenter service recently surpassed 25 million registered users worldwide, more than double the number of users from a year ago. According to the December, 1999 Media Metrix report, Netcenter is the fourth most visited Web site at work, ahead of Geocities, Lycos, Excite, AltaVista and GO.com.

The Company also hit such milestones as 105 million downloads of its browsers in a two-year period; Netscape Open Directory Project surpassing 1.5 million Web sites; My Netscape increasing its user base by 400%; and Netscape Search tripling in page views in just six months.

Netscape is a leading Internet company that offers the Netscape Navigator and Communicator client software and operates the Netscape Netcenter portal. A subsidiary of America Online, Inc., Netscape is based in Mountain View, California. Additional information on Netscape can be found by accessing http://home.netscape.com.