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"I remember I told you I had things to do recently."
Los Angeles.
Stark Industries' headquarters was temporarily relocated here while the New York office was being rebuilt. Today, Tony Stark, with a look of visible impatience, walked into the conference room led by his uncle, Obadiah Stane, to meet with a group of old men who seemed to only know how to sit around and collect money.
"Tony, we respect that you have your own ideas, but we also have some things we'd like to discuss with you," a major shareholder began, speaking for the group.
Tony simply waved his hand dismissively. "I know what you're thinking, and you don't need to say it. You're just getting antsy after seeing Parker Industries make a killing in the materials field, aren't you?"
The shareholders looked embarrassed but, motivated by the potential for profit, a few spoke up brazenly. "So, Tony, don't you have a good relationship with Parker Industries?
Do you think we could partner with them? After all, they started as a biotech company without a mature industrial chain. We're different. A partnership would definitely speed up the money-making process, which would be good for them, right?"
Tony was at a loss for words, so he replied with an irritated sigh. "First of all, Parker Industries is a private company. It's not listed on the stock market, they don't accept outside investments, and they're self-sufficient.
In the last few years, they've accumulated enough wealth to expand their industry on their own. They have no reason to partner with anyone."
"While a partnership might speed up their development, with the current level of Parker Industries' technology, it wouldn't be by much. Why would they let another group come in and take a slice of the pie just to save a little time? And we'd always have to be careful about their technology leaking."
A partnership with Stark Industries could indeed help Parker Industries quickly mature in the materials field, but given the groundbreaking new materials they'd just released to the world, they weren't in a rush.
Technology is always the most profitable asset, and with so many new material technologies in their possession, no one could stop their rise.
Tony didn't believe for a second that Benjamin Parker, a man shrewd enough to outmaneuver his own brother for company shares, wouldn't see the risk in such a deal just because he was playing 'make-believe' with his son.
"And I need to remind you that the shareholder I have a good relationship with is Richard Parker, the former co-owner, not the current scumbag Benjamin Parker."
Tony made his position clear. The shareholders already knew that a partnership was just a pipe dream. Unless Benjamin suddenly went mad, it was an impossible deal.
They didn't understand high-tech materials, but they understood business. They had only asked Tony to test the waters. Now that they had his answer, they gave up on the idea of a partnership.
However, they hadn't given up on the materials market altogether. After all, the public orders for Parker Industries' new material—despite being 50% more expensive than conventional ones—had been completely bought up by officials from major countries, making the shareholders green with envy.
If Stark Industries had no alternative, they wouldn't say a word, but their company had an equally impressive new material.
"What about gold-titanium alloy, Tony? What do you think would happen if we used it as a new material and had Stark Industries enter the materials market?" a shareholder asked.
Gold-titanium alloy was a new metal Tony had invented, but it had only been used within Stark Industries, primarily for his own projects. Because it was a casual invention from his youth, Tony hadn't bothered to improve it.
While its strength was groundbreaking, the high cost meant he had never planned to sell it commercially. With Parker Industries' recent success, the shareholders naturally wanted Tony to release the gold-titanium alloy, or even improve it further, to compete. They were terrified of being left out of the new materials revolution.
"Gold-titanium alloy?" Tony mused, remembering his old project. "I heard that Parker Industries' main material is actually a new type of aerospace material. It seems the 14-year-old Parker kid named it 'ultra-high-tensile steel.' I think that name comes from a Japanese cartoon I used to read as a kid... but my dad threw it away."
"Cough, cough..." Obadiah coughed loudly to snap Tony out of his tangent. "Tony, we're in a meeting. Let's focus on business."
"Right, right, I get it," Tony said, rolling his eyes impatiently. "Currently, the material called ultra-high-tensile steel is only half the weight of current aerospace materials. The price is twice as expensive as regular aerospace materials, but for space exploration, that cost is nothing."
This was why Parker Industries was so successful. Materials are the foundation of everything. As long as a new material can be mass-produced and offers better performance, there will always be buyers—unless humanity stops progressing. Tony compared the ultra-high-tensile steel to his gold-titanium alloy and shook his head.
"I know gold-titanium alloy well. If I spend some time on it, it wouldn't be a problem to surpass the tensile strength of 'ultra-high-tensile steel' while keeping the same weight. But you can tell by the name."
The name 'gold-titanium alloy' puts gold first for a reason: it's the main component of the alloy. This means that no matter how much Tony improves it, the price is determined by the raw materials.
It wouldn't just be double the cost of current aerospace materials; it could be several, or even dozens, of times more expensive. Tony was confident he could create a material with comparable or even better performance.
He could even modify it to adapt to various signals and fields. However, he couldn't control the price unless he created a different alloy entirely.
"So the performance would be great?"
While Tony saw the high price as a failure, the shareholders saw an opportunity. In business, it's not just about literal value; personal connections are key.
The shareholders in this room had powerful connections all over the country. Even if the gold-titanium alloy was more expensive, they were confident they could still take a slice of the pie from Parker Industries.