DULLES, VA - July 24, 2003 - America Online, Inc., the world's leading interactive services company, today announced that John McKinley, former Chief Technology Officer for Merrill Lynch and GE Capital, has been named to the position of Chief Technology Officer (CTO) and President, AOL Technologies. In that role, McKinley will serve as AOL's chief technology strategist and will direct the Company's technological agenda as it moves aggressively into areas like broadband, wireless and premium services.

In addition to technology strategy, McKinley will also oversee the teams in charge of product engineering, network infrastructure and data centers, and internal business systems and computing. McKinley will report to AOL Vice Chairman Joe Ripp. In making the announcement, Ripp said, "John McKinley is one of the business world's most respected technology leaders, and we are very pleased that he is joining AOL. John has an extraordinary reputation as a strategic thinker and has an intuitive grasp for how new and existing technologies can address the needs of the consumer. In addition, John has helped some of the largest companies in the world implement ambitious technological efforts while maintaining strong fiscal discipline. I look forward to working closely with John as we help our members take advantage of all of the Internet's potential as we enter the broadband world."

"What stuck me most was the renewed passion within the AOL organization," said McKinley. "There is an energy and a spirit of innovation that, coupled with AOL's historical competencies, make it an exciting place to be. I think you'll see it manifest itself in AOL 9.0, which demonstrates AOL's commitment to bring new and innovative services to its members. I look forward to working with AOL's executive and technology teams as we look beyond the immediate horizon for new opportunities for growth in this rapidly-changing landscape."

McKinley was previously Executive Vice President and Head of Global Technology & Services for Merrill Lynch, where he was responsible for the technology and operations organization consisting of 14,000 employees. While at Merrill Lynch, McKinley directed the planning and launch of Merrill's online trading offerings (ML Direct and Merrill Lynch Online), which were awarded best-in-class ratings from SmartMoney and Gomez. Prior to joining Merrill Lynch in 1998, McKinley was Senior Vice President and Chief Technology and Information Officer for GE Capital Corporation, where he managed the technology organization of 3,600 employees supporting GE's Six Sigma and e-commerce efforts. Before that position, McKinley was a partner with Ernst & Young LLP until 1995. McKinley graduated from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.