AOL Woos Netscape Staff With Pay, Promises

America Online is offering all 2,300 Netscape Communications employees an extra month’s pay as an incentive to stay on as AOL takes over the Mountain View-based software developer. AOL Chairman Steve Case sought to assure Netscape employees that the Internet innovator will remain “a cool company” while noting that corporate talent hunters have their eye on Netscape personnel. Dulles, Va.-based AOL’s $4.3-billion merger with Netscape, and a related deal with Sun Microsystems Inc., will be good for Netscape employees, executives of all three companies said at a meeting with workers. After the merger, Case said, Netscape workers’ stock options will remain valuable, their sabbatical program will stay in place and their corporate culture will remain intact. Netscape stock rose 75 cents to close at $37.75 on Nasdaq; AOL shares rose $2.31 to close at $89.88 on the New York Stock Exchange.