Charles F. Pfister (June 17, 1859 – November 12, 1927) was a wealthy tannery magnate, bank financier, utility owner, newspaper publisher, hotelier and philanthropist in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Although never a political candidate himself, Pfister advised on tactics and used his vast holdings to fund the party's operations, dictate favored legislation, and re-edit the opinion pages of Wisconsin newspapers.

[1] Guido's cousin and fellow emigre Frederick Vogel founded a tannery on Milwaukee's Menominee River while Pfister opened a shoe store on nearby West Water Street.

Four years later he proved to Vogel he could open eastern markets, selling railcar loads of leather to shoemakers in cities like New York, Boston and Philadelphia.

After the Panic of 1893 the overcapitalized corporation was drowning in debt, and sought to balance its books by raising electricity rates on homes and businesses, discontinuing commuter rail passes, evading taxes and violating city ordinances.

Driven into receivership, the monopoly was re-organized by Pfister, F.G. Bigleow and state Republican boss Henry Clay Payne as The Milwaukee Electric Railway and Light Company (TMER&L).

In 1896, the company hired strikebreakers to put down a strike by the Amalgamated Street Railway Employees Union, and the next week a public boycott was launched.

Pfister even forsaked his own party by supporting the Democrat David Stuart Rose for mayor when calls for reform from the city's progressive Republicans gained traction.

The near unanimous backlash from local businessmen, church leaders and newspapers against such political manipulation resulted in widespread support for progressive reforms.

[8] In 1905 Pfister was indicted by Milwaukee district attorney (and future governor) Francis E. McGovern in a rendering company bribery scandal, but was acquitted for lack of testimony.

After the subsequent state convention, candidate Robert M. La Follette claimed that Pfister admitted to buying away his pledged delegates and told him "If you behave yourself, we will take care of you when the proper time comes."

[12] Pfister's influence with president Theodore Roosevelt secured the office of postmaster general for his political partner Henry C. Payne, providing new opportunities to bestow federal patronage jobs on allies.

The scandal gave a boost to governor La Follette's re-election campaign and diminished Pfister's stature among the next wave of conservatives.

Rather than going to trial and having their business practices revealed, Pfister bought the paper outright on February 18, 1901, paying an immense sum to buy up a majority of its stock.

Pfister was a noted philanthropist, donating some of his fortune to a variety of local and state interests, from baseball franchises to conservation groups.