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Stark Industries (NYSE: SIA, NASDAQ: STRK) is an American global aerospace, defense, security and advanced technologies corporation with worldwide interests. Currently headquartered in its Manhattan offices,[3] the company's current President and Chief Executive Officer is Tony Stark,[9] direct descendant of the founder Isaac Stark Sr.[14]

History

19th Century[]

The company's origins date back to the 19th Century, when Dr. Isaac Stark Sr. turned his manufacturing and engineering concern into a global industrial superpower, developing new technologies that helped to redefine innovative security measures for the industrial age.[14] After Isaac Stark's death, the company passed through several hands, including his son Isaac Stark, Jr. and grandson Howard Stark, Sr.[15][16]

20th Century[]

Stark Industries gained growing prosperity under the leadership of Howard Stark Senior's son, Howard Stark, Jr.,[14] who had obtained full control of the company after his brother, Edward, had sold his shares.[16] Appointed President of Stark Industries,[20] Howard Stark successfully turned the company into the world leader in munitions development, while also branching out into several other scientific fields, including aeronautics, robotics, micro-technology and fringe science; since that, Stark Industries had its corporate offices in the portion of New York City's Queens borough located on Long Island.[14]

Hercules was an initial investors in Stark Industries. The original investment was $100,000, but now when the size of the investment was calculated, a second line of zeroes was required.[21]

In 1965,[22] Howard Stark helped founding a global espionage agency named S.H.I.E.L.D., with Stark Industries providing weapons, munitions, technology and vehicles, including the agency's mobile headquarters, known as the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier.[23]

Howard relied upon the genius of his adopted son, Anthony, for many of the company's advancements, even appointing him Vice President of Development. Tony, however, demonstrated little interest in Stark Industries' day-to-day management, and industrial rival Republic Oil & Gas Company, in order to have Tony selling them his shares, arranged for the death of Howard and Maria Stark in a car accident. Tony, sole heir to his father's assets, was promoted to President, taking full control of Stark Industries and refusing Republic Oil's selling offer.[24]

Modern Age[]

Stark Industries (Earth-616) from Tales of Suspense Vol 1 48 001

Tony Stark then continued to aggressively develop new technologies and innovations, leading Stark Industries to become a major contractor for both corporate and government concerns. While personally overseeing the using of his manufactured munitions and weapons by the U.S. Army in the Middle East,[25] Tony Stark was nearly killed by an exploding land mine; captured by some revolutionary terrorists, he was saved by scientist Ho Yinsen, a fellow prisoner. Stark then developed a suit of sturdy body armor that not only saved his injured heart, but also enabled him to escape imprisonment. Upon returning to the United States, Tony modified the crude battlesuit, ultimately building what would soon become the recognizable armor of Iron Man.[26][25]

Back in the United States, Tony proudly kept Stark Industries running, employing Virginia 'Pepper' Potts as his personal Executive Assistant and ex-boxer Harold 'Happy' Hogan as chauffeur. Requiring the Iron Man Armor's chest plate (actually an Arc Reactor) to being kept alive, Stark introduced Iron Man as its bodyguard, starting to fund and finance the Avengers' activities (a superheroes group which he, as Iron Man, had founded), even setting his family's Manhattan manor as the Avengers' headquarters, known as the Avengers Mansion.[24] Stark also maintained his father's contract with S.H.I.E.L.D., producing equipment, weapons and vehicles for the organization, eventually becoming part of its Supreme International Council as Head of Special Weapons Division.[27][28]

Under Tony Stark's leadership, Stark Industries had several lucrative contracts with many financial institutions, but, despite his skill as an inventor and businessman, Stark's playboy image didn't sit well with many military and political figures, including senator Harrington Byrd, who frequently clashed with Tony over how he ran Stark Industries and performed under government contracts.[29]

Stark International[]

After driving the company to new heights year after year, Tony Stark eventually suffered a crisis of conscience and declared that Stark would no longer produce weapons for S.H.I.E.L.D., the Government, or any other parties.[30] As Stark Industries continued to change its public persona and strengthened the corporation's foreign interests, it became known as Stark International.[31]

Stane International[]

As part of his ongoing efforts to destroy Tony Stark, Stark International Executive Obadiah Stane brought Stark to the edge of financial ruin. On top of the physical and psychological torments heaped upon him, Tony was eventually bought out by Stane, and Stark International was renamed in favor of its new owner.[7]

Even after Obadiah Stane's downfall and death, Stane International remained a separate institution from Stark's companies. Justin Hammer covertly acquired control of Stane International for his own dealings until Iron Man forced him to turn the company and its assets back over to Stark.[32][33]

Stark Enterprises[]

After dragging himself out of the bottle, Tony Stark briefly worked with James Rhodes and the Erwin siblings at a small California firm called Circuits Maximus. After Obadiah Stane killed Morley Erwin, and his sister Cly left to join AIM, Stark and Rhodes got to work rebuilding the Stark legacy. Tony soon reopened his business with a new corporation called Stark Enterprises, now based on the West Coast.[18]

During the Stark Enterprises days, Tony learned that Stane International had been bought out by Justin Hammer, and forced the billionaire to sign the company back over to him. Unfortunately, Tony then became liable for countless shady business dealings Stane had been involved in.[33]

Stark-Fujikawa[]

Upon Tony Stark's death, Stark Enterprises was bought out by Japanese firm Fujikawa Industries, and was renamed Stark-Fujikawa.[34]

Stark Solutions[]

After he returned from the Heroes Reborn universe and reestablished his identity, Tony Stark considered trying to reacquire his old assets from Stark-Fujikawa. Ultimately, however, he chose to proceed with his own separate company called Stark Solutions, with a focus on troubleshooting-for-hire to other firms.[6]

Stark suffered numerous setbacks after his Iron Man armor became sentient, giving him a case of "techno-phobia" where he relied upon older armor versions instead of creating a new one. He also suffered considerably in the public eye thanks to a media smear campaign initiated by his former friend, Tiberius Stone. After fighting with Stone in the virtual reality DreamVision, Stark retired from the public eye. He dismantled Stark Solutions and gave away his assets to the Avengers or the Maria Stark Foundation.[35]

Stark Returns[]

Tony Stark eventually returned to work with the assistance of Trevor Donahue. Another industrialist and target of Tiberius Stone, Donahue passed away and left his company and personal fortune to Tony Stark. Stark used these assets and Donahue Development factories to restart Stark Enterprises.[36] It was also alleged that Stark's previous actions giving away his fortune were the result of a subliminal message implanted in his brain by Stone's DreamVision, although never conclusively proven.[37]

When Rumiko finally learned the truth about Tony Stark's relationship with Iron Man, she came to understand the behavior that led to their separation. As reparation, she convinced her grandfather to sell Tony 49% interest in Stark Industries while Fujikawa retained 49% as well. The remaining 2% was in Rumiko's hands, but she willingly gave it back over to Tony without any strings.

As a result, Tony Stark once again possessed both the names and assets of all his previous companies: Stark Industries, Stark International, and Stark Enterprises.[38]

Dark Reign and Downfall[]

After numerous terrorist attacks perpetuated by Ezekiel Stane, Stark was forced to use an EMP which incapacitated Stane's tech and Stark's own.[39] The company suffered heavy losses,[40] including the research, development, design, and manufacturing hubs.[11]

In the wake of Norman Osborn's "Dark Reign," Tony made Pepper Potts the CEO and COO of the company, who sold off everything she could, so Stark Industries existed "as a corporate entity on paper only."[11] When Tony Stark returned into the action, he founded a new company: Stark Resilient.[41] He later passed the reins of the organization to Pepper Potts when he was being targeted by the Mandarin for the sake of the safety of the company's staff.[42]

Return of Stark Industries[]

After Tony's moral axis became inverted by a magic spell gone wrong in the end of the conflict known as World War Hate,[43] he targeted the city of San Francisco for the release of a commercialized version of the Extremis virus. The product's launch became the cornerstone of a new Stark Industries.[44] Months later, and following the return of normalcy for Tony's morality, the company crashed meteorically as a result of mismanagment due to Tony's superheroic endeavors.[45] The stocks of the company struggled for months afterwards,[4] falling to a nearly 15-month low.[46] The assets of the company were under siege by the Board of Directors following Stark's disappearance for an undercover mission, which harmed the company even further.[47] Despite Tony's evenutal return, the Board of Directors remain extremely dissatisfied.[48]

Not long afterwards, Tony Stark fell into a coma due to injuries sustained in battle.[49] The reins of the company fell in the hands of Tony's biological mother Amanda Armstrong, but she delegated the duties of management to Tony's A.I. assistant Friday. Around this time, the shares of the company rose from the all-time low.[50] The chairman of the Board of Directors, Eric Lynch, rallied the other members to remove Amanda from the position of President.[51] Following the disappearance of Tony Stark's comatose body, Lynch led the take-over of the company and nominated himself to become the new director of the company.[3] However, Lynch was approached by rising crime boss The Hood, who believed there was a connection between Tony Stark's disappearance and the heroic endeavours of Victor von Doom, who had taken up the mantle of Iron Man.[10] Before The Hood could coerce Lynch into handing him over his share of the company, Robbins and his criminal army were attacked by an army of Doombots commanded by Doom, as well as the recently-resurfaced Tony Stark and War Machine.[9] In the aftermath of Lynch's attempted takeover, Tony set up a new company called Stark Unlimited,[52] which absorbed Stark International, Stark Solutions, Stark Resilient and several other Stark companies as corporate subsidiaries.[1]

Executives and Staff[]

Stark Industries[]

Stark International[]

Stark Enterprises[]

Stark-Fujikawa[]

Stark Enterprises / Stark Industries / Stark International[]

Stark Industries / Stark International / Stark Enterprises[]

Locations and Facilities[]

Stark Industries (Earth-616) from Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Vol 1 12 001

Map of Stark Industries' Long Island Headquarters

Other Properties[]

Subsidiaries and Divisions[]

Technology Developed[]

  • Lightweight Mortars - Tony Stark provided lightweight mortars to the US Army in Tales of Suspense #39 for use in Vietnam. They look suspiciously like M-79 Grenade Launchers.
  • Jet-Powered Roller Skates - Collapsible skates that can be clamped to the sole of a boot with an ordinary skate key and are driven by miniature transistorized motors. They were developed for use by the US Military. It was envisioned that an entire infantry division equipped with these could transport itself along the highway at up to 60 mph without the use of trucks. Demonstrated to the US Army in Tales of Suspense #40.
  • Atomic Naval Cannons - Designed to fire a nuclear salvo more than 500 miles, revolutionizing battleship firepower. (Mentioned in Tales of Suspense #41)
  • Flesh-Healing Serum - Serum that closes any open wound in two seconds with synthetic liquid tissue. (Mentioned in Tales of Suspense #41)
  • Radiation Resistant alloy - Material capable of resisting radiation for use in space capsules. (Mentioned in Tales of Suspense #41)
  • Burp Guns - .50 Caliber sub-machine guns capable of firing explosive cartridges at rates of up to 1,000 spm. (Mentioned in Tales of Suspense #41)
  • Disintegrator Ray - Flashlight-sized device capable of projecting a ray that could instantaneously vaporize a two-foot thick section of reinforced concrete wall. Prototype demonstrated to the US Army in Tales of Suspense #42.
  • Y-69 Rocket - An experimental three-man rocket first tested in Tales of Suspense #46.
  • Anti-Gravity Ray - Experimental device capable of negating the effects of gravity around whatever its beam hit. Was powerful enough to lift an entire factory off of its foundation! Demonstrated to the Department of Defense, then stolen by the Black Widow in Tales of Suspense #53. The only working model was destroyed by Iron Man.
  • Observer Missiles - Remotely controlled missiles equipped with surveillance equipment. Used by the US Military to take pictures behind enemy lines in Vietnam in Tales of Suspense #54.
  • Uranus II Rocket - seen in Tales of Suspense #60.
  • Moon Missile - Prototype rocket seen in Tales of Suspense #63.
  • Mangler Missile - Anti-Missile missile attaches itself to an enemy missile, taking control of it. First tested in Tales of Suspense #65.
  • Mini-Submarine - A one-man scout sub that can out run and out flank almost any torpedo. First tested by Iron Man in Tales of Suspense #66. Destroyed during battle between Iron Man and Attuma.
  • Jupiter Landing Vehicle - code named JLV for use on the surface and gravity of the planet Jupiter. Debuted in Iron Man #116.

Employees[]

Formerly[]

Trivia

  • Prodigy, Victor Mancha, and Ant-Man all auditioned for the position of Head of Security at Stark Industries (with Lang successfully obtaining the role). Beetle also auditioned, but with the intention of using the position in order to get close to Tony Stark and kill him.[83]

See Also

Links and References

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 Tony Stark: Iron Man #5
  2. Invincible Iron Man #595
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Invincible Iron Man #594
  4. 4.0 4.1 Invincible Iron Man (Vol. 3) #7
  5. Invincible Iron Man (Vol. 3) #1
  6. 6.0 6.1 6.2 Iron Man (Vol. 3) #1
  7. 7.0 7.1 7.2 Iron Man #173
  8. Marvel Two-In-One #24
  9. 9.0 9.1 9.2 Invincible Iron Man #600
  10. 10.0 10.1 10.2 Invincible Iron Man #599
  11. 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 11.4 Invincible Iron Man (Vol. 2) #25
  12. 12.0 12.1 12.2 Iron Man (Vol. 3) #4
  13. 13.0 13.1 13.2 Iron Man #284
  14. 14.0 14.1 14.2 14.3 14.4 14.5 14.6 Invincible Iron Man (Vol. 2) #5
  15. 15.0 15.1 15.2 Invincible Iron Man (Vol. 2) #10
  16. 16.00 16.01 16.02 16.03 16.04 16.05 16.06 16.07 16.08 16.09 16.10 16.11 16.12 All-New Iron Manual #1
  17. Uncanny Inhumans #12
  18. 18.0 18.1 18.2 18.3 18.4 18.5 Iron Man #217
  19. Tales of Suspense #43
  20. 20.0 20.1 20.2 20.3 Iron Man: The Iron Age #1
  21. Hercules: Fall of an Avenger #1
  22. S.H.I.E.L.D. (Vol. 3) #9 ; Dum-Dum Dugan's story
  23. Original Sin Annual #1
  24. 24.0 24.1 Iron Man: The Iron Age #12
  25. 25.0 25.1 Iron Man (Vol. 4) #16
  26. Tales of Suspense #39
  27. Strange Tales #135
  28. 28.0 28.1 Iron Man: The Iron Age #2
  29. Tales of Suspense #4647
  30. Iron Man #5051
  31. Iron Man #73
  32. Iron Man #283
  33. 33.0 33.1 Iron Man #301
  34. Iron Man #329
  35. Iron Man (Vol. 3) #3741
  36. Iron Man (Vol. 3) #45
  37. Iron Man 2001 #1
  38. Iron Man (Vol. 3) #56
  39. Invincible Iron Man (Vol. 2) #6
  40. Invincible Iron Man (Vol. 2) #7
  41. Invincible Iron Man (Vol. 2) #26
  42. Invincible Iron Man #519
  43. Avengers & X-Men: AXIS #3
  44. Superior Iron Man #1
  45. All-New, All-Different Avengers #1
  46. Invincible Iron Man (Vol. 3) #8
  47. 47.0 47.1 Invincible Iron Man (Vol. 3) #10
  48. Invincible Iron Man (Vol. 3) #12
  49. Civil War II #8
  50. 50.0 50.1 Invincible Iron Man (Vol. 4) #3
  51. 51.0 51.1 Invincible Iron Man #593
  52. Tony Stark: Iron Man #1
  53. Iron Man #4849
  54. Tales of Suspense #46
  55. 55.0 55.1 Fury #1
  56. 56.0 56.1 Tales of Suspense #45
  57. Iron Man #31
  58. Iron Man #45
  59. Iron Man #267
  60. Iron Man #62
  61. Iron Man #124
  62. 62.0 62.1 Iron Man #118
  63. Iron Man #171
  64. Iron Man #169
  65. Iron Man #132
  66. Iron Man #119
  67. 67.0 67.1 67.2 67.3 67.4 67.5 67.6 Iron Man #300
  68. Iron Man #330
  69. 69.0 69.1 69.2 69.3 69.4 69.5 69.6 Iron Man #327
  70. 70.0 70.1 Iron Man Annual #9
  71. Iron Man #328
  72. Iron Man #215
  73. 73.0 73.1 Iron Man #222
  74. Iron Man #219
  75. Iron Man #238
  76. Iron Man (Vol. 3) #8
  77. Iron Man (Vol. 4) #2
  78. Invincible Iron Man (Vol. 2) #910
  79. Although she has never been referred as President, in Invincible Iron Man (Vol. 4) #3, C.E.O. Eric Lynch, reaching the Stark Industries Main Campus to take over the company's day-to-day management, found out that before entering in a comatose state, Tony Stark had put his biological mother, Amanda Armstrong, in charge of the daily operations. Usually, in corporate governance, the executive in charge of the day-to-day management is the President, and this statement could be supported by A.I. Tony Stark's affirmation about Lynch in Invincible Iron Man #595: He thinks he should be the President of Stark Enterprises.
  80. In Invincible Iron Man #600 Tony regained the President position from her mother Amanda Armstrong, as well as the Chief Executive Officer and Chairman titles from Eric Lynch, who has been forced by Tony to resign.
  81. Invincible Iron Man (Vol. 3) #9
  82. Invincible Iron Man (Vol. 3) #11
  83. Ant-Man #1
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