Stark Industries

owing prosperity, Stark Industries (then known as Stark Enterprises) was quickly propelled into the modern era as a major global industrial superpower, due in no small measure to Isaac Stark, Sr.'s direct descendant Howard Stark. Under Howard Stark's leadership, Stark Industries became the world leader in the development of munitions with its corporate office located on Long Island, New York. Stark Industries quickly branched out into other scientific fields including aeronautics, robotics, micro-technology and fringe science. With increasing expansion, the company soon became known as Stark Industries. When Howard Stark passed away, his sole heir Tony Stark inherited all of his father's business assets and took full control of Stark Industries. Tony Stark continued to aggressively develop new technologies and Stark Industries became a major contractor for both corporate and government concerns. One of Tony Stark's major coups was securing a contract with the military watchdog organization S.H.I.E.L.D. Nearly all of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s ordnance and equipment is based on Stark technology including their primary base of operations, the S.H.I.E.L.D. Many years ago, Tony Stark conducted a personal weapons inspection in a foreign country when an exploding land mine nearly ended the young playboy's life. After being held captive for several weeks by revolutionaries, Stark 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. His brush with death greatly affected Tony psychologically, and the thought of his technology being used to cause such widespread destruction sickened him. Following this crisis of conscience, Tony Stark publicly announced that Stark Industries was getting out of the weapons making business. This decision came about at the same time that Iron Man became officially attached to the company as Tony Stark's personal bodyguard. The general public was unaware that Iron Man was actually Tony Stark himself. Although Stark Industries was no longer manufacturing weapons, it still maintained several lucrative contracts with many financial institutions, as well as S.H.I.E.L.D. Not all of SI's associates however were pleased with the idea of Stark halting his weapons production programs. Powerful political figures such as the surly senator Harrington Byrd, continued to pressure Tony Stark into relinquishing the patents on the Iron Man armor for use in the U.S. Despite persistent pressure from Byrd, Tony never sold the technology used in the development of his Iron Man armor.