Obadiah Stane is Tony Stark’s godfather and business partner. He is the chief operating officer of Stark Industries. Howard Stark met Obadiah in college but didn’t go into business with each other until after War War II. They were close friends. He was not only Howard’s best man at his wedding but also named Tony’s godfather when Tony was born.

As a result, Obadiah was just as much of a father figure to Tony. When Howard was verbally abusive to Tony, it was Obadiah that Tony often went to. They were close, and for a while, Obadiah saw Tony as a surrogate son because he was a lifelong bachelor.

However, as time went on, Howard and Obadiah often bumped heads over how Stark Industries was being run. The more resentful he grew towards his best friend. And there was a riff there, and when Howard and his wife Maria died in a car accident. He took over as interim CEO of Stark Industries. During this time, Obadiah loved the power he held and grew even more resentful when he had to hand over the role to Tony when he turned 21.

And although Obadiah loves Tony, he feels he is the best person to be CEO.