Doris Lee Feigenbaum Fisher (born August 23, 1931) is an American

billionaire A billionaire is a person with a net worth of at least 1,000,000,000, one billion units of a given currency, usually of a major currency such as the United States dollar, euro, or pound sterling. It is a sub-category of the concept of the ultr ...

businesswoman who co-founded the Gap Inc. clothing stores with her late husband,

Donald Fisher Donald George Fisher (September 3, 1928 – September 27, 2009) was an American billionaire businessman and philanthropist. He co-founded the Gap Inc. clothing stores with his wife Doris F. Fisher. Early life and education Fisher was born i ...

in 1969.

Early life

Fisher was born in

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

, California, to Harvard lawyer and California state legislator B. Joseph Feigenbaum and Dorothy (Bamberger) Feigenbaum of New York, both

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

.Calisphere: "Letter from Feigenbaum to Fry" and Interview with B. Joseph Feigenbaum
1976 She had two siblings: Ann F. Rossi and Joseph L. Feigenbaum.

Career

Fisher co-founded the Gap with her husband Don Fisher in 1969, which eventually became a $16 billion business with more than 3,500 stores worldwide. Fisher was the company’s merchandiser until 2003 and sat on the board until 2009. She has been named as one of the 100 Most Powerful Women by ''Forbes Magazine''. She has been a trustee of

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

, her

alma mater Alma mater (; : almae matres) is an allegorical Latin phrase meaning "nourishing mother". It personifies a school that a person has attended or graduated from. The term is related to ''alumnus'', literally meaning 'nursling', which describes a sc ...

Political views

In 2019, it was revealed that Fisher, together with her sons

Robert The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of ''Hrōþ, Hruod'' () "fame, glory, honour, prais ...

William William is a masculine given name of Germanic languages, Germanic origin. It became popular in England after the Norman Conquest, Norman conquest in 1066,All Things William"Meaning & Origin of the Name"/ref> and remained so throughout the Middle ...

, and

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...

, had donated nearly $9 million to Americans for Job Security, a non-profit group that opposed

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

in the 2012 election.

Personal life

Fisher was married to Don Fisher in 1953. Their three sons –

, and

– continue to manage the business. She and her husband were inducted into the California Hall of Fame in 2011, as the sixth class. Fisher loaned the art collection she and her husband spent their lives acquiring, which consists of 1,100 works by 185 artists, including

Andy Warhol Andy Warhol (;''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''"Warhol" born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director and producer. A leading figure in the pop art movement, Warhol ...

Ellsworth Kelly Ellsworth Kelly (May 31, 1923 – December 27, 2015) was an American painter, sculptor, and printmaker associated with hard-edge painting, Color field painting and minimalism. His works demonstrate unassuming techniques emphasizing line, col ...

, and

Richard Serra Richard Serra (November 2, 1938 – March 26, 2024) was an American artist known for his large-scale Abstract art, abstract sculptures made for Site-specific art, site-specific landscape, urban, and Architecture, architectural settings, a ...

, to the

San Francisco Museum of Modern Art The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) is a modern art, modern and contemporary art museum and nonprofit organization located in San Francisco, California. SFMOMA was the first museum on the West Coast devoted solely to 20th-century art ...

, which, because of her support, is now the largest modern art museum in the United States.

References

1931 births Living people American billionaires American businesspeople in retailing 20th-century American Jews American women business executives Businesspeople from the San Francisco Bay Area American retail company founders American women company founders American company founders 20th-century American businesspeople Stanford University trustees Female billionaires Fisher family Gap Inc. people 20th-century American businesswomen 21st-century American Jews 21st-century American women {{US-business-bio-1930s-stub