Board Thread:Speculation House/@comment-69.174.140.87-20160118164115/@comment-4010415-20160118170307

Like Shadow said, Atlas is a Kingdom (and also the name of Atlas' Huntsman Academy), not a company.

More than likely, Ironwood alludes to the Tin Man from Wizard of Oz, especially with Qrow's comment about wondering if Ironwood even has a heart (the Tin Man lacked a heart and asked the Wizard for one).