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Who was Charles T. Yerkes, the model for Frank Cowperwood?

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Theodore Dreiser His first published novel *Sister Carrie* had a limited printing because of the controversial subject matter.

Charles Tyson Yerkes (1837–1905) was an American financier and transportation magnate who served as the real-life inspiration for the protagonist Frank Cowperwood in Theodore Dreiser’s Trilogy of Desire.12

Yerkes began his career in Philadelphia, where he was imprisoned for the misappropriation of funds following a stock exchange panic in 1871. After his release, he rebuilt his fortune and moved to Chicago in 1882, where he became a dominant force in the city's mass-transit system. He was known for his aggressive business tactics, which included using stock as collateral to acquire competing lines and relying on bribery to secure public franchises from municipal and state politicians.1

In 1901, Yerkes sold his Chicago transit interests and moved to London to modernize its subway system. Beyond his business dealings, he is also remembered for funding the Yerkes Observatory at the University of Chicago. Dreiser chronicled Yerkes' rise and fall through the novels The Financier, The Titan, and The Stoic.12