Iron mountain About us Iron Mountain history IRON MOUNTAIN HISTORY Herman Knaust founded Iron Mountain in 1951 in Livingston (NY). Known as "the king of mushrooms" by his neighbors in the Hudson River Valley, Knaust began to make his fortune by growing and selling mushrooms. In 1936, he paid $ 9,000 for a depleted ferrous ore mine and 100 acres of land in order to have more space to grow his product. But by 1950, the mushroom market had changed, so he decided to start a new business: one that could take advantage of the mine he had called "Iron Mountain." After World War II, Knaust subsidized the relocation of many Jewish immigrants to the United States who had lost their identity as their personal documents had been destroyed during the war. At the time, the world was in fear of the atomic threat of the Cold War. Both factors led Knaust to focus his business on protecting vital information from wars and other disasters. As a result, Iron Mountain Atomic Storage, Inc. was founded in 1951. Mr. Knaust opened the first "custody centers" on Iron Mountain and established the business office in the Empire State Building. With a natural talent for publicity, he persuaded senior officials, such as General Douglas MacArthur, to visit the Iron Mountain facility. Custodial publicity was the central theme of the new company's marketing program. Iron Mountain's first customer was the East River Savings Bank, which used armored cars to bring microfilm copies of deposit records and duplicate signature cards to the new facility. Soon after, other clients began to arrive, Iron Mountain continued to grow in New York and expanded its original facilities into a disused limestone mine closer to the city. At the time, Iron Mountain was the first vital document protection company. It didn't take long for customers to want to store large volumes of paper documents as well. In 1978, Iron Mountain opened its first non-underground file custody facility in New York. In 1980, Iron Mountain expanded its borders beyond the New York market with the opening of a facility in New England to address the growing need to protect computer backup data. In 1983, Iron Mountain expanded its presence in New England with the acquisition of the New England Storage Warehouse in Boston. It was Iron Mountain's first acquisition, and it allowed the company to enter the market for medical records and legal records management. By the mid-1980s, Iron Mountain had opened all of the service lines that make up the foundation of today's business. It offered paper file custody and management services (including major operations in the health and legal sectors) and external data protection services and vital files in New York and New England. In 1988, Iron Mountain took an important step with the acquisition of Bell & Howell Records Management, Inc., a subsidiary of Bell & Howell Corporation, four times their size. Bell & Howell Records Management, then a leader in the industry, was present in 12 major US markets, none of which had Iron Mountain presence. As a result, Iron Mountain became the industry's first national service provider. Its expansion did not stop and, in 1995, Iron Mountain exceeded 100 million dollars in annual revenue. The company's management felt that it was the ideal time to consolidate the records management industry. In February 1996 Iron Mountain went public with a capital increase intended, in part, to begin its consolidation. Actualmente, Iron Mountain destaca como líder del sector en servicios de custodia y gestión de la información y presta sus servicios a 156.000 clientes de 32 países de los cinco continentes. Sus acciones cotizan en la Bolsa de Nueva York con el nombre “IRM”. Iron Mountain ocupa el puesto 712 de la lista Fortune 1000 y forma parte del índice S&P 500. Empresas de todos los sectores importantes y de todos los tamaños (incluido más del 94% de las empresas de la lista FORTUNE 1000) confían en Iron Mountain como socio para la gestión de su información. Iron Mountain, con unos ingresos en 2012 de 3.000 millones de dólares, cuenta con la plataforma de servicios más amplia destinada a los mercados internacionales, es el socio de confianza en todo el mundo para servicios de custodia y gestión de la información. Herman Knaust displayed great capacity for future when, in 1952, said: "This business will mushroom ..." . Front page, Wall Street Journal, October 24, 1952 For more information on file custody and management: CONTACT CALL US 900 22 23 24 Site Map | Website Conditions of Use | Iron Mountain Website Privacy © 2017 Iron Mountain Incorporated. All rights reserved. Follow us on: Call us - 900 22 23 24