Forty years after founding The Gap, Don Fisher died on Sept. 27 at the age of 81.

The company said he died “after a long and heroic battle with cancer.”

Fisher and his wife, Doris, started the company in 1969 as a single store in San Francisco and built it into the largest specialty retailer,with more than 3,100 stores. Last year, the company earned $14.5 billion in revenue.

A business leader, avid art collector and life-long San Franciscan, Don Fisher is survived by his wife, three sons and 10 grandchildren.

For more about Fisher, see ApparelNews.net.