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marvel cinematic universe - How does Stark Enterprises maintain its cashflow?


In the 2008 Iron Man movie, when Tony Stark returns from captivity he holds a press conference during which he states that Stark Enterprises will no longer be a weapons manufacturer. Initially this would obviously be stone walled by Obadiah Stane, but once he was dead Tony would have had greater opportunity to maneuver the company in the direction he wanted. Presumably Tony would have continued to push in the direction of no longer selling weapons.


Even assuming that Tony was unwilling or unable to stop all weapons manufacturing over night, adjusting internal production to one or more products or services that could come close to matching the profit flow of weapons sales and Defense contracts would seem a near impossible task. The only product I could see coming close to offsetting these losses would be the miniaturized Arc Reactor, but there did not seem to be any indication that these were being sold (Ivan Vanko having a similar reactor in Iron Man 2 was a surprise to Tony).


With all of that, and assuming a large portion of Tony's personal wealth was tied up in Stark Enterprises, how did Stark Enterprises manage to maintain a cash flow sufficient enough that Tony was able to continue funding construction and development of the Iron Man platform (on behalf of Stark Enterprises?), especially while launching a year long technology expo in Iron Man 2?


I am primarily interested in answers that are linked to the movies (as I am unfamiliar with the comic and cartoon lore), however, a canon answer from alternate media is welcome.



Answer



There are a few implied answers in the movies, and more stated in comics in the past:





  • Stark refuses to sell weapons or Iron Man tech, but he likely still manufactures vehicles and armour. (In the comics, he's moved in and out of other military tech repeatedly over the years.) He still seems to be working on a certain red-white-and-blue shield, for a start.




  • Stark Industries has diversified heavily, particularly in commercial tech and computing. He's apparently diversified enough to be worth hosting an Expo, for a start. (Never mind the Iron Man weapons tech; consider how good the HUD is, not to mention his lab's true-3D CAD desktop.) Stark almost certainly makes a killing in the smartphone and domestic display markets - note the mini-tablet he uses to hack the presentation at the start of the second movie.




  • This broader portfolio is not a new phenomenon; being a weapons contractor didn't stop Howard Stark from running a general civilian expo. (We know from Captain America that he was working on a civilian flying car as early as WWII, although apparently the repulsor tech was too far ahead of it's time to be commercially viable at that point.)





  • Given his sponsorship of a racing team, it's likely that the military-vehicle production capability has been diversified into domestic and industrial engine and vehicle markets. (In the comics his newest company, Stark Resilient, was founded on alternate cleaner-energy engine designs.)




  • The key Iron Man tech that Stark won't sell is the power source (in the movies), and the repulsors (in both movies and comics). He might still use both to create more efficient or effective Stark production lines, for creating things he is willing to sell. An arc reactor/repulsor based factory would have one hell of a competitive advantage.




  • In the comics it's been repeatedly stated that giving up weapons does badly impact profits. During one past run when Stark was refusing to deal in defence contracts at all, it was clear that Stark profits - and his connections in government - were badly hurt. But Stark's so big and so rich that it's not fatal.




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