Edward Vogler

Edward "Ed" Vogler is a supporting character and primary antagonist of the first season. He was a billionaire, and owner of a pharmaceutical company who donated a large sum of money to Princeton-Plainsboro, becoming the new Chairman of The Board. He disliked House and went to great efforts to get him fired.
==Biography==
His dad had given him $20,000 for college, which he would have realized was a mistake, had he known that Vogler was not actually in college. Vogler accepted the money and invested it in a friend's small business. The business made a lot of money, making Vogler a multi-millionaire. Despite this, Vogler's dad was upset with him for not telling him that he was not in college; the two did not speak for years. Vogler then invested money in more businesses, all of which were incredibly successful, before going public and becoming a billionaire overnight. He went to see his dad and told him about all the money he had made with that first $20,000, but his father said nothing - he didn't recognize Vogler because his Alzheimer's had taken a turn for the worst.
So Vogler donated $100 million to PPTH, ostensibly to help cure diseases such as Alzheimer's disease and cancer, on the condition that he was to be made chairman of the board of directors in order to control what his money was spent on. He took an immediate dislike to House, at first for his consistent failure to wear a lab coat, but then came to find that House brings in very little income compared to his expenses (2/3 of the expenses for his cases are from trying to figure out the problem, but the patients' insurance only covers what actually solved the issue).
Robert Chase agreed to spy on House for Vogler, essentially in a bid to save his own job. Vogler then demanded that House fire one of his fellows to save money. Cameron came up with the idea of having everyone take a pay cut, which House proposed to Vogler, who shot it down out-of-hand - what he really wanted was to let House know that he was no longer calling the shots on his team; a really bad move, since this was as reasonable House would be with him. Without knowing of Chase's betrayal, House finally chose to fire Chase, which Vogler refused to allow - House had to fire either Cameron or Foreman as both refused to take Chase's place as Vogler's spy.
However, Vogler gave House an out - if House would agree to attend a doctors' conference to talk up one of Vogler's new drugs, he would agree to keep everyone on. House agreed, to the astonishment of his team and the relief of Wilson and Cuddy. However, House soon realized that Vogler's new drug, called Viopril (fictive), was merely a highly marked-up cheap medication to which Vogler had added an antacid. Instead of giving Vogler's impressive speech, House explained to the astonished audience and a stunned Vogler that they should continue to use the old cheap drug, because it was just as good. As a result, Cameron agreed to leave the team. In addition, House figured out that Chase was the snitch and, since he couldn't fire him, had to live with the fact.
After House embarrassed him, Vogler tried to have the board fire House because of his methods and lack of discipline, threatening to resign and take his money with him. However, as House had tenure, a unanimous vote of the board was needed. Only one of the board members objected: James Wilson. Because he needed a unanimous vote, Vogler motioned for Wilson to be voted off the board, which only required a majority vote. It was close, but despite Cuddy's support, Wilson lost his board position and had to resign as head of oncology. As failed motions had to wait 24 hours to be re-voted on, Vogler had to wait another day to revive the motion.
However, in the meantime, House not only managed to save the barely viable fetus of a woman who died of cancer, he also managed to clear a couple of criminal negligence for apparently neglecting their baby by diagnosing a rare glandular disorder. As a result, Dr. Cuddy objected to firing House the final time the board met on the issue, mainly due to being fed up with Vogler's tyrannical attitude and stance ("And you're not accountable for anyone either!  Because you think you OWN US!"). Vogler responded by moving to have Cuddy removed from the Board, but before she left for self-recusal, she reminded the board that if they didn't stand up to Vogler now, they would never get another chance. The motion to remove her was defeated, and Vogler left the hospital with his money.
Vogler has not been seen on the show since, but Chase's involvement with him has been referenced. House treated Chase harshly during the episode Kids, though by the first season finale they seemed to be working together as normal. During the third season, Detective Michael Tritter mentioned he had heard Chase had betrayed his boss before, alluding to Chase's involvement with Vogler.
===Other Media===
Vogler is mentioned in House M.D. - Critical Cases as the owner of "Vogler Field" and its minor league baseball team. House tries to convince the patient and his brother to plant hypodermic needles where league officials will find them.
==Trivia==
*Vogler is a control freak. Rather than just make a regular donation, he wanted to oversee how the hospital will spend it. He then begins slowly taking over and trying to get House fired, first for being unprofessional and then because he humiliated him in public for revealing a new drug he was selling was a scam.
*The creators of the show weren't fond of Vogler due to the fact that the executives of Fox demanded an antagonist to go against Dr. House. They were able to get rid of him though when the show went through some ratings clout.
*House hated him enough that he had a pleasant dream of telling Vogler he had a terminal disease and they were custom ordering a large coffin for him as Vogler broke down crying.
==Appearances==
de:Edward Vogler
es:Edward Vogler
Vogler, Edward
Category:House's Enemies
Category:Males
Category:Members of The Board
Category:Season 1