Flashback

Before the Iron Mask

Born to Howard Anthony Stark and Maria Collins Carbonell Stark, Anthony Edward "Tony" Stark was born with extremely high intelligence. At the age of 15 Stark entered the undergraduate electrical engineering program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) where he graduated at the top of his class. At the age of 21 he inherited Stark Enterprises when his parents were killed in a car accident.

Self-Made Superhero

The Many Armors of Iron Man

During an East Asian conflict, Stark Enterprises developed mini-transistors that Tony thought would help the war effort. While checking on his plant, which had been plagued by sabotage, Tony was injured by exploding shrapnel and captured by warlord Wong Chu. Chu forced Tony and another captive, famed physicist Ho Yinsen, to create weapons for him. All the while the lethal bit of shrapnel was slowly working towards Tony's heart. Tony and Yinsen created an iron suit that would keep Tony alive and allow them to escape. During the escape Yinsen was killed, sacrificing himself to allow Tony time to change for the first time to Iron Man. Iron Man made short work of Chu and his men.

On his way home Tony met Helicopter pilot James Rhodes - the future armored partner of Tony Stark called War Machine - and returned to America. After he arrived, Tony worked to improve the Iron Man armor and made Iron Man Tony Stark’s personal bodyguard to disguise his identity. In his early years Tony Stark became the corporate sponsor of the superhero group the Avengers and as Iron Man help found the group with Thor, Ant-Man, the Wasp, and the Hulk. Notable villains from these early days include Mandarin, Hawkeye, and the Black Widow.

http://www.marvel.com/universe/Iron_Man_(Anthony_Stark)