America Online Inc says that its subscriber rolls have now surpassed the nine million mark, including 400,000 new subscribers since June 30. AOL has previously said that its goal was to have 10 million members by the year’s end. Shares of the Dulles, Virginia-based company reacted joyfully to the news, climbing $4.375, or 6.8%, to close at $68.875 on Tuesday. AOL’s announcement coincides with the news from Electronic Information Report that the number of total online subscribers grew 12.8% to 24.7 million for the second quarter of 1997. The figures are based on a survey of 53 online services. The business/professional segment growth of 21.8% to 3.6 million subscribers.
