Doug Otto

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title: "Doug Otto" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["university-of-california,-santa-barbara-alumni", "1951-births", "living-people"] description: "American businessman" topic_path: "society/education" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doug_Otto" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary American businessman ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox person"]

Field	Value
name	Doug Otto
image
birth_name	Douglas B. Otto
birth_date
education	University of California, Santa Barbara (B.A. 1973)
occupation	Business executive
years_active	1973–2008
employer	Deckers Outdoor Corporation
height
boards	The Whale Beach Foundation
spouse	Rita Otto
children	3
website
::

| name = Doug Otto | image = | caption = | birth_name = Douglas B. Otto | birth_date = | birth_place = | nationality = | education = University of California, Santa Barbara (B.A. 1973) | occupation = Business executive | years_active = 1973–2008 | employer = Deckers Outdoor Corporation | known_for = | height = | boards = The Whale Beach Foundation | spouse = Rita Otto | children = 3 | signature = | signature_size = | website =

Douglas B. Otto (born 1951) is a business executive who co-founded Deckers Outdoor Corporation whose portfolio includes the UGG Australia brand.

Early life and education

Otto was born in 1951 to two high school educators. He attended and graduated from the University of California, Santa Barbara with a B.A. in business economics in 1973.

Deckers Outdoor Corporation

While at UCSB in 1973, Otto began producing sandals with classmate Karl F. Lopker.

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The duo, with Otto handling sales and distribution while Lopker oversaw manufacturing, based the company on durable, long-lasting sandals which catered to the surf community. After buying out Lopker in 1982, Otto decided to license and manufacture other companies' product which resulted in a 1985 agreement with Teva.

Deckers went public in October 1993 and in 1995 acquired UGG Australia. The move, engineered by Otto, has been described as a "... brilliant and lucrative business maneuver..." and "one of the great success stories within the consumer category." The UGG brand, with Deckers, gained market traction slowly, but after an Oprah Winfrey feature on a "Favorite Things show sales and popularity increased dramatically. UGGs soon became a fashion trend ingrained in popular culture with celebrities such as Kate Moss, Katy Perry, Gisele Bündchen, and Sarah Michelle Gellar all wearing the brand as well as being shown on Sex and the City.

Otto retired from Deckers in 2008, but revenue continued to climb and first hit $1 billion US dollars in 2010.

Personal life

Doug Otto is married to Rita Otto and has three children. He is currently the President and Chairman of the Board for The Whale Beach Foundation, roles he has held since 1994. He was honored by UC Santa Barbara in 2009 with its "Distinguished Alumni" award, joining his Deckers Corporation co-founder Karl Lopker who was a 1998 honoree.

References

References

1. "2009 Babson Forum Doug Otto Biography". Babson Entrepreneurship Forum.
2. Jervis, Laurie. (March 25, 2009). "Decker's Founder to Speak at SBCC". Noozhawk.
3. (2009). "Deckers Outdoor Corporation". [[Bren School of Environmental Science & Management]].
4. Olsen, Patricia R.. (January 23, 2010). "The Joy of a Family Shop". [[The New York Times]].
5. Leff, Lisa. (February 16, 1997). "Money, Fame And Family". [[Los Angeles Times]].
6. Kacik, Alex. (December 7, 2011). "Deckers Outdoor Corp. Breaks Ground on New Headquarters in Goleta". Noozhawk.
7. Stewart, Ethan. (December 8, 2011). "Diamonds on the Soles of Their Shoes". [[Santa Barbara Independent]].
8. Adelson, Andrea. (February 7, 1995). "Market Place; Deckers makes a hot-selling sandal, but Wall St. remains cool". [[The New York Times]].
9. Conley, Lucas. (September 9, 2010). "The Golden Fleece". [[The Wall Street Journal]].
10. "Deckers Outdoor Corporation Revenue & Earnings Per Share (EPS)". [[NASDAQ]].
11. "Distinguished Alumni Award". UC Santa Barbara Alumni Association.

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::