'PATH-BREAKING ENTREPRENEUR'

Gap Co-Founder Dies at 94

Doris Fisher founded the iconic retailer with her late husband in 1969.

Billionaire businesswoman and philanthropist Doris Fisher, who co-founded the Gap, has died at age 94. “There is simply no equal to Doris Fisher. In Gap-speak, she was a true original,” the company said in a tribute to the industry titan, adding that she was a “path-breaking entrepreneur at a time when that was highly unusual for women.” Fisher co-founded the fashion retailer with her husband, Donald, in San Francisco in 1969, as a store selling Levi’s jeans and records. More than a half-century later, the company—which includes Banana Republic and Old Navy—is one of the largest retailers in the country, reporting net sales of $15.4 billion in 2025. Fisher was also a philanthropist for the arts. “Many of us were fortunate to have known Doris personally, an extraordinary human being whose brilliance, quiet determination, and heart shaped everything from Gap Inc.’s indelible influence on fashion and retail to philanthropy and the San Francisco art scene,” the company’s statement continued. Fisher, whose husband died in 2009, is survived by her three sons, who remain involved in their parents’ fashion legacy.