Tony Stark, also known as Iron Man, is one of the most popular and iconic superheroes in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. He is a genius, billionaire, playboy, and philanthropist who uses his advanced technology and engineering skills to create a suit of armor that allows him to fight evil. But did you know that Tony Stark is partly inspired by some real-life people who share some of his traits and achievements? Here are four real-life Tony Starks that you might not have heard of.
Howard Hughes
Howard Hughes was a legendary film director, aviator, and businessman who lived from 1905 to 1976. He inherited his father’s company, Hughes Tool, at the age of 17 and used his wealth to pursue his passions in filmmaking and aviation. He produced several movies, such as Hell’s Angels, Scarface, and The Outlaw, and set several world records as a pilot. He also designed and built innovative aircrafts, such as the H-4 Hercules (also known as the Spruce Goose), the largest flying boat ever made. Hughes was known for his eccentricity, reclusiveness, and obsession with perfection. He suffered from mental health issues and physical ailments in his later years. Stan Lee, the co-creator of Iron Man, said that Hughes was one of the inspirations for Tony Stark’s personality and appearance.
Elon Musk
Elon Musk is a modern-day visionary who is the founder and CEO of several companies that aim to solve some of the biggest challenges facing humanity. He co-founded PayPal, an online payment system that revolutionized e-commerce. He founded SpaceX, a private aerospace company that develops reusable rockets and spacecrafts with the goal of colonizing Mars. He also founded Tesla Motors, an electric car manufacturer that produces innovative and sustainable vehicles. He is also involved in other projects, such as SolarCity, a solar energy company; Hyperloop, a high-speed transportation system; Neuralink, a brain-computer interface company; and The Boring Company, a tunnel construction company. Musk has been described as a real-life Iron Man by many people, including Jon Favreau, the director of Iron Man and Iron Man 2. Musk even had a cameo appearance in Iron Man 2.
Larry Page
Larry Page is one of the co-founders of Google, the most popular and influential search engine in the world. He met Sergey Brin at Stanford University in 1996 and together they developed Google (originally called BackRub) as a research project. Google quickly became a success and expanded its services to include email, social networking, maps, cloud computing, artificial intelligence, smart phones, tablets, and more. Google also owns YouTube, the largest video-sharing platform on the internet. Page served as the CEO of Google from 2001 to 2011 and from 2015 to 2019. He is currently the co-founder and board member of Alphabet Inc., the parent company of Google and its subsidiaries. Page is known for his vision, innovation, and leadership in the tech industry. He has connections to some of his fellow real-life Tony Starks: he is an investor in Elon Musk’s Tesla Motors and Richard Branson was his best man at his wedding.
Richard Branson
Richard Branson is a British entrepreneur who is the founder and chairman of Virgin Group, a conglomerate of more than 400 companies that operate in various sectors such as music, media, travel, telecommunications, health care, space tourism, and more. Some of his most notable ventures include Virgin Records, Virgin Atlantic Airways, Virgin Mobile, Virgin Galactic, and Virgin Hyperloop One. Branson started his business career at the age of 16 when he launched a magazine called Student. He then founded a mail-order record business that later became Virgin Records. He is known for his adventurous spirit, charisma, philanthropy, and environmentalism. He has attempted several world record-breaking feats such as crossing the Atlantic Ocean by boat and balloon. He has also expressed interest in going to space with Virgin Galactic.