Doris Fisher, the San Francisco businesswoman and philanthropist who co-founded Gap Inc. alongside her late husband Donald Fisher, has died at 94. The company confirmed she passed away peacefully, surrounded by family. No cause of death was disclosed.
Fisher was born in San Francisco in 1931 and graduated from Stanford University in 1953. She and Donald Fisher launched Gap in San Francisco in 1969, building it into a global retail empire with $15 billion in sales and more than 3,500 stores worldwide, including the company’s other chains Banana Republic, Old Navy, and Athleta.
Gap Inc. described Fisher as “an extraordinary human being whose brilliance, quiet determination, and heart shaped everything from Gap Inc.’s indelible influence on fashion retail to philanthropy and the San Francisco art scene.”
Beyond retail, Fisher was a prominent figure in San Francisco’s philanthropic and arts communities. Her son, John Fisher, is the owner of the San Jose Earthquakes and the Oakland Athletics.
