Gap Founder Dies at 81
September 27, 2009 by Mark Ellis
Filed under Business
Donald Fisher, the famed creator of the popular clothing retailer, The Gap, has died of cancer at age 81. Despite the fact that he was the creator of one of the most well-known clothing retailers in the world, Don Fisher was not known as a merchant or fashion designer, but rather as a talented business leader.
Fisher was responsible for spreading the San-Francisco-based retailer to malls and urban centers across the United States by hiring a group of talented businesspeople and creating an iconic brand. As the most profitable brand clothier in the U.S. during the 1990s, Gap would also acquire Banana Republic and Old Navy.
With 3,145 stores and $14.5 billion in sales last year, Gap Inc. is one of the largest clothing retailers in the world, much of its success owed to Fisher’s nearly 40-year stint as the chief executive and then chairman of his company. According to other members of the company, Fisher was active in Gap affairs up until the last year of his life.















