Mech companies occupied a unique position within human society. Technically, they were arms manufacturers.
Some arms manufacturers sold infantry weapons. Other arms manufacturers sold turret installations.
Yet even though mech companies sold mechs, they were treated differently from other arms manufacturers.
This was because the designers and developers of those armaments were mostly anonymous faces. It didn't really matter to the vast majority of the market which person designed a specific weapon model. The company brand stood for the entire company rather than a couple of notable weapon designers.
Due to the prominence of mechs in the Age of Mechs, mech companies enjoyed a very different situation. Mech designers enjoyed a lot of attention and publicity to the point where their personal fame often overpowered the brand of the company where they worked at! A mech company was just a hollow shell without a notable mech designer taking the lead!
