Everyone who is a member of LexCorp in their respective universe.
Overview []
A fictional business conglomerate, LexCorp is one of the most influential and powerful multinational corporations in the world with dozens of subsidiaries. It is owned and run by the ruthless and corrupt Lex Luthor who secretly uses it as a front for his various criminal and underhanded schemes and enterprises.
Background[]
In the late 1980's, DC Comics underwent a major continuity shakeup in the maxi-crossover series, "The Crisis on Infinite Earths". They used the convenient opportunity to wipe the slate clean of over 40 years of convoluted and bogged down past history and relaunched a number of titles including their flagship character of Superman for the modern era; the effects of which are still reflected to this day.
Legendary comic scribe John Byrne reinvented Superman's primary arch nemesis Lex Luthor from a power mad scientist and would-be world conqueror to a power mad corporate executive. Instead of purely using super-science for his schemes; Luthor would embark on wide ranged plots which utilized advanced technology as well as his vast wealth, political and legal influence to frustrate and oppose the Man of Steel while hiding behind a veneer of respectability. The source of his vast resources was his multinational business conglomerate known as LexCorp which was created by Elliot S. Maggin and was first mentioned in Superman vol. 1 #416 published in February of 1986.
Originally an aerospace engineering firm, LexCorp expanded under the savvy direction of it's founder, Lex Luthor into a vast and diverse conglomerate of many interests; often forcibly taking over and absorbing smaller firms and businesses and converting them into LexCorp subsidiaries. Through a combination of ruthless business tactics, borderline criminal and shady behavior, genuine charisma and ingenuity enabled Luthor to leverage LexCorp into becoming one of the largest and most powerful business corporations in the entire world.
LexCorp was noted for either dominating or being a major or leading force in industrial manufacturing, computers, chemicals, retail, bio-engineering, military weapons, pharmaceuticals, communications, airlines, real estate, hotels, food production and restaurants, and robotics. Luthor proudly boasted to Superman that he employed directly or indirectly nearly 2/3rds of Metropolis' 11 million people. Metropolis' position as being one of the most prosperous and bustling urban centers of the 20th Century is in no small part to the burgeoning and ever expanding economic juggernaut of LexCorp Industries. Luthor has used LexCorp to further his influence and respectability, portraying himself as a benevolent philanthropist which increases his immunity to legal prosecution and has often had close ties to the US Military.
Thanks to his major role as Superman's primary arch nemesis, LexCorp has frequently appeared in a cameo role in the last few decades throughout various Superman films and TV shows as well as other DC related franchises under a variety of names including LuthorCorp. Luthor has often utilized the resources of LexCorp as a means to attack Superman both directly and indirectly.
Major Plots[]
Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman (1993)[]
By the time that Clark Kent took on the role of Superman in Metropolis in the late 20th Century, Lex Luthor was already the third wealthiest man in the world which he ran his vast business empire from his enormous LexCorp Tower; which was also not so coincidentally the tallest building in Metropolis as an example of his tremendous ego.
LexCorp was built from Lex Luthor from his family wealth which he inherited following the deaths of his parents when he was still a teenager. By the age of 21, he assumed control of his first business although rumors indicate that it was a hostile takeover. Through the use of unethical business practices and criminal schemes, Lex would transform LexCorp into the dominant business empire of Metropolis.
Luthor would attempt to further his wealth and power and thus increase LexCorp and find himself stymied by Superman. He used his tremendous resources to study his opponent, gaining knowledge of his weaknesses and personality which he used to psychologically attack or test Superman on various occasions such as learning that Superman was in fact an alien and that he had not arrived on Earth as a fully grown adult but as a child years ago which eventually allowed him to penetrate his secret identity and discover Superman's alter ego of Clark Kent. Luthor would even go far as to buy the Daily Planet in his plot to woo Lois Lane and even had it bombed to destroy her place of work to convince her to marry him.
Superman: The Animated Series (1996)[]
By the time that Superman would emerge as a champion for justice in Metropolis in the late 20th Century, Lex Luthor had through his genius and absolute lack of morals successfully parlayed them into the multinational company known as LexCorp. Lex proudly boasted that he effectively employed over two-thirds of the population of Metropolis which he viewed as his city as he had helped rebuild and modernize a vast majority of it. The company specialized in weapons contracts and also made a lucrative killing in smuggling and underworld arms dealing and for many years, Luthor used LexCorp in various schemes against the Man of Steel.
When Lex Luthor was finally arrested by the Justice League and sentenced to prison, he was forced to transfer control of the multinational company to his long-time bodyguard Mercy Graves. Graves subsequently realized that he had done so because he didn't have anyone else nor did he trust anyone else and had hoped that she would be so slavishly loyal that she would return control of LexCorp back to him. Graves took to her new position with a will, ruthlessly firing anyone not productive enough and raising stock prices over 38% in the process. When Lex escaped from prison, she reluctantly through a sense of obligation provided Lex with some minimal assistance; the address of Professor Ivo.
Lex would subsequently gain a full presidential pardon for his assistance in the Justice Lords incident and would reclaimed his control over LexCorp and forced Mercy to resubmit to his control. Luthor would clandestinely assist with the US Government in Project Cadmus against the Justice League but secretly appropriated several technological and scientific advancements for himself and it was revealed that he had been implanted with a copy of the Brainiac Program which subtly influenced his actions for years until it was forced to reveal it's continued existence. The main LexCorp tower headquarters was subsequently badly demolished by Brainiac during his battle with the Justice League.
Luthor was subsequently sent back to prison and presumably lost control over LexCorp once more. The fate and condition of LexCorp afterwards is unknown.
Smallville (2001)[]
After arranging for the deaths of his parents in an accident, teenaged Lionel Luthor took the insurance money and would subsequently used it to form LuthorCorp which specialized in pesticides in 1970. Headquartered in Metropolis, Lionel would proceed to build LuthorCorp into a huge agricultural concern which also manufactured fertilizers and farm equipment before diversifying into biotechnology, communications, and pharmaceuticals. By 1989, Lionel had transitioned LuthorCorp into a vast business conglomerate and incidentally one of the most powerful and influential businessmen in Metropolis. Around this time, he purchased the Ross Creamed Corn factory in Smallville which he subsequently converted into a fertilizer plant in a few short years.
However as his wealth and business success grew, Lionel's relationship with his son and heir, Lex worsened. In 2001, Lionel ordered Lex to take control of the faltering Smallville Fertilizer Plant which was the biggest subsidiary loss for LuthorCorp. Lionel viewed it as on-the-job business training while Lex viewed it as "exiling" him to Smallville.
Lionel would subsequently order Lex to cut costs at the plant and fire hundreds of employees. Lex however figured out a way to increase the productivity of the plant without cutting manpower. Lionel was impressed with how Lex ultimately turned the plant around and subsequently offered him a promotion and a post at his side in Metropolis only for Lex to flatly turn him down to stay in Smallville. Infuriated, Lionel would close the plant by citing "management" problems thus indirectly blaming Lex for the closure.
Lex would convince the employees of the plant to band together and using a combination of their combined savings and his own capital, successfully purchased the Smallville Fertilizer Plant from LuthorCorp under the aegis of his own privately established company which he named LexCorp in 2002 while plotting to initiate a hostile takeover of LuthorCorp.
In 2003, Lionel Luthor would instead seize control of LexCorp by blackmailing its board members and made it a subsidiary of LuthorCorp while kicking Lex out as CEO; effectively bankrupting him as Lex had sunk all of his assets into the company. Lex subsequently agreed to return to work for his father and was promoted to Vice-President of LuthorCorp but secretly worked to gather information against him and ultimately had his father arrested and took direct control over LuthorCorp in 2004.
Lex would transition the the various assets of LuthorCorp from agriculture into develop new technologies and focusing on defense contracting for the United States while also pursuing unethical biogenetic experiments on metahumans and meteor mutants which would result in the vigilante Green Arrow to assemble a "proto-Justice League" to oppose him.
Lionel's conviction would be overturned in 2005 and was released from prison and reacquired a post at LuthorCorp under his son but would undergo a traumatic event where he became a Kryptonian Oracle for Jor-El and sought to guide Clark Kent on his journey to becoming Superman. Lex however came to realize that his father was secretly protecting a powerful metahuman asset that he wanted for himself and jealously murdered Lionel by pushing him off the LuthorCorp Building in 2008.
Lex would disappear shortly afterwards on a private expedition to the Arctic resulting in his half-sister, Tess Mercer into becoming the new CEO of LuthorCorp. Lex was subsequently resurrected by an agent of Darkseid and retook control of the company after killing Tess whom he viewed as having betrayed him in 2011.
Shortly afterwards, Lex was a helpless witness to Darkseid's attempt to invade the planet Earth which was repulsed by Superman. However the event caused a explosion that partially defaced the logo of the LuthorCorp building spelling out "LexCorp" instead which would seem to herald that the company would soon be rebranded under its new CEO.
DC Extended Universe Franchise[]
LexCorp Industries was a company that was founded in 1974 by an East German immigrant; Alexander Luthor, Sr. LexCorp originally specialized in petrochemicals and heavy machinery but under the guidance of its founder, ballooned rapidly into a huge business empire. Luthor Sr. passed away in 2000, leaving his company behind to his only child, Alexander "Lex" Luthor, Jr. who would over the next decade, moved the entire company into new direction and transformed it into one of the mightiest business juggernauts in the world.
First appearing as in the background in the 2013 Man of Steel film as a corporate logo, LexCorp made its one screen debut in the DC Extended Universe in the 2016 Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice film where Lex Luthor used its resources to create the monster Doomsday from the deceased General Zod.
Supergirl (2015)[]
Luthor Corp was founded by Lionel Luthor who would built into a huge multinational business conglomerate and later pass on several years previously. His controlling shares were subsequently inherited by his son Lex Luthor who became the CEO of Luthor Corp. Lex however developed a grudge against Superman and would prosecute it by using the assets of Luthor Corp and inadvertently cause numerous causalities. He was subsequently arrested and convicted to over 37 life sentences, completely disgracing and tarnishing Luthor Corp as well.
His half-sister, Lena Luthor would assume control of the company and rechristened it as "L-Corp" to distance itself from her criminal brother's infamous activities as well as moving its headquarters from Metropolis to National City. L-Corp would subsequently buyout CatCo Worldwide Media and make it a subsidiary.
L-Corp or a version of it would continue to exist at least until the 25th Century as it was noted for having developed a cure for Daxamite's lead poisoning.
Appearances[]
Films[]
- Justice League: The New Frontier (2008)
- Man of Steel (2013)
- Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016)
TV Series[]
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