William Sydney Fisher (born 1958) is an American investor, hedge fund manager, and philanthropist. He has been a director of

Gap Inc. The Gap, Inc., commonly known as Gap Inc. or Gap (stylized as GAP), is an American worldwide clothing and accessories retailer. Gap was founded in 1969 by Donald Fisher and Doris F. Fisher and is headquartered in San Francisco, California. The c ...

since 2009, and the founder and chief executive officer of Manzanita Capital Limited.Gap, Inc. web site
retrieved March 31, 2013 The son of Gap Inc. founders

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 ...

and Doris F. Fisher, William Fisher has been involved with the company as a board member or employee for nearly 30 years. As of January 2018, Fisher has a

net worth Net worth is the value of all the non-financial and financial assets owned by an individual or institution minus the value of all its outstanding liabilities. Since financial assets minus outstanding liabilities equal net financial assets, net ...

of US$1.85 billion.

Early life and education

Fisher was born to a Jewish family,The Jewish News Weekly of Northern California: "Gap Founder Donald Fisher Leaves Stamp on Community"
October 1, 2009 is the son of Doris Feigenbaum Fisher and Don Fisher, the co-founders of

Gap, Inc. The Gap, Inc., commonly known as Gap Inc. or Gap (stylized as GAP), is an American worldwide clothing and accessories retailer. Gap was founded in 1969 by Donald Fisher and Doris F. Fisher and is headquartered in San Francisco, California. The ...

He has two brothers: Robert J. Fisher and

John J. Fisher John Joseph Fisher (born June 1, 1961) is an American businessman. He is the owner of Major League Baseball's Oakland Athletics and has stakes in Major League Soccer's San Jose Earthquakes and Scotland's Celtic F.C. He is the son of Gap Inc. fou ...

. Fisher attended

Phillips Exeter Academy (not for oneself) la, Finis Origine Pendet (The End Depends Upon the Beginning) gr, Χάριτι Θεοῦ (By the Grace of God) , location = 20 Main Street , city = Exeter, New Hampshire , zipcode ...

.Stanford University: William S. Fisher, MBA '84
retrieved March 31, 2013 He is a 1979 graduate of

Princeton University Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ...

, where he received a bachelor's degree and a 1984 graduate of the

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is conside ...

Graduate School of Business, from which he earned a master's degree in Business Administration.

Investment career

Fisher began his career at The Gap after earning his MBA, starting first as the store director for the

Banana Republic In political science, the term banana republic describes a politically unstable country with an economy dependent upon the export of natural resources. In 1904, the American author O. Henry coined the term to describe Honduras and neighboring c ...

and then the general manager for Gap in Canada. Fisher served as the president of the Gap's international division and is credited with expanding the company into Canada, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, and Japan. In 2001, he founded the London-based private equity firm Manzanita Capital and serves as its CEO. Manzanita concentrates its investments in branded luxury companies in Europe, consumer goods, and retail. In 2009, he was appointed to the Gap's board of directors.

Political views

In 2019, it was revealed that Fisher, together with his mother Doris F. Fisher, as well as brothers Robert J. Fisher and

, had donated nearly $9 million to a dark money group which opposed

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, Obama was the first Af ...

in the

2012 election This national electoral calendar for 2012 lists the national/ federal elections held in 2012 in all sovereign states and their dependent territories. By-elections are excluded, though national referendums are included. January *3–4 January: ...

Personal life

Fisher is married to Sakurako Fisher, and the couple has three children. His wife, who graduated from Stanford with a B.A. in 1982, was born in Japan to an American father and a Japanese mother and serves as president of the

San Francisco Symphony Orchestra The San Francisco Symphony (SFS), founded in 1911, is an American orchestra based in San Francisco, California. Since 1980 the orchestra has been resident at the Louise M. Davies Symphony Hall in the city's Hayes Valley neighborhood. The San F ...

and chair of the Smithsonian National Board.

Wealth and philanthropy

According to ''

Forbes Magazine ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also rep ...

'', he has a

of $1.85 billion

USD The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

. Fisher donates heavily to his ''alma mater'' Stanford and has a professorship there. In 2011, he donated $1 million to Stanford's

Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies Stanford University has many centers and institutes dedicated to the study of various specific topics. These centers and institutes may be within a department, within a school but across departments, an independent laboratory, institute or center ...

. He serves as vice chairman of the science museum

Exploratorium The Exploratorium is a museum of science, technology, and arts in San Francisco, California. Characterized as "a mad scientist's penny arcade, a scientific funhouse, and an experimental laboratory all rolled into one", the participatory natu ...

in San Francisco. Like many other members of the Fisher family, he supports pro-

charter school A charter school is a school that receives government funding but operates independently of the established state school system in which it is located. It is independent in the sense that it operates according to the basic principle of autono ...

candidates in a variety of races. In September 2022, Fisher donated $980,000 to the "No on 30" California ballot campaign.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fisher, William S. 1958 births American billionaires American financiers American investors American retail chief executives Businesspeople from the San Francisco Bay Area Jewish American philanthropists Living people Phillips Exeter Academy alumni Princeton University alumni Private equity and venture capital investors Stanford Graduate School of Business alumni Fisher family Gap Inc. people 21st-century American Jews