Joseph Fels (16 December 1853[1]–22 February 1914[2]) was an American soap manufacturer, millionaire, Georgist and philanthropist.

Born of German Jewish immigrants in Halifax County, Virginia, Fels moved with his family to Baltimore in 1866; by 1876 he had assumed control of a soap manufacturing company based in Philadelphia, and brought two of his brothers in as partners shortly after.

While his own fortune rapidly accumulated, as early as 1890 Fels had become an adherent of Henry George and his proposed land value tax.

Fels funded the founding of the Georgist colony of Arden, Delaware, in 1900, managed by architect William Lightfoot Price and sculptor Frank Stephens.

His wife, Mary (née Rothschild), continued to support this cause after Fels' death from influenza on 22 February 1914;[4] his brother Samuel also remained an active philanthropist.