Was Manitobah Mukluks sold to UGG? No. The viral claim is false. Manitobah—formerly widely known as Manitobah Mukluks—and UGG are separate footwear businesses. UGG is owned by publicly traded Deckers Outdoor Corporation. Deckers’ 2026 annual report identifies its proprietary brands as UGG, HOKA and Teva; Manitobah is not one of them.
The real Manitobah ownership story is more interesting than the rumor. It runs through a Métis founder, investment from Montreal Lake Cree Nation’s business arm, a 2021 private-equity transaction with Endeavour Capital, and founder Sean McCormick’s later move into Indigenous investment capital.
Was Manitobah Mukluks Sold to UGG?
No credible corporate record supports that claim. Deckers says it acquired the UGG brand in 1995 and its current investor materials list UGG, HOKA and Teva as its principal proprietary brands. Meanwhile, Endeavour Capital publicly lists Manitobah Mukluks as a current portfolio company and says it partnered with Manitobah in 2021.
That distinction matters. Similar product categories can make two brands look connected from the outside, but competing in boots and cold-weather footwear does not make Manitobah a UGG subsidiary.
Before Private Equity, Indigenous Capital Helped Manitobah Scale
Manitobah’s capital story did not begin with a U.S. investment firm. In 2018, Montreal Lake Business Ventures (MLBV), the economic development arm of Montreal Lake Cree Nation in Saskatchewan, acquired a partial ownership position in Manitobah Mukluks.
At the time, MLBV described Manitobah as one of Canada’s Growth 500 fastest-growing companies. Founder Sean McCormick said growing demand made the partnership important to both the company’s economic and social missions. Contemporary reporting also said Manitobah was shipping moccasins and mukluks to more than 50 countries.
- 1997: Métis entrepreneur Sean McCormick founds Manitobah in Winnipeg.
- 2018: Montreal Lake Business Ventures acquires partial ownership.
- 2021: Endeavour Capital partners with Manitobah and provides partial liquidity to existing shareholders.
- 2023: Manitobah becomes a Certified B Corporation.
- Today: McCormick is a General Partner at Raven Indigenous Capital Partners.
This is an important part of the Indigenous business success story: a First Nation’s investment arm was not simply sponsoring the brand. It became an owner, using Indigenous capital to participate in the growth of an Indigenous-founded consumer company.
What Actually Happened With Endeavour Capital in 2021?
In 2021, U.S. private-equity firm Endeavour Capital entered the picture. Endeavour’s own portfolio page says it was introduced to McCormick that year and partnered with Manitobah, providing partial liquidity to existing shareholders while supplying capital and support for expansion.
That wording is important. Public sources confirm an investment and liquidity transaction, but they do not publicly disclose the purchase price, McCormick’s proceeds, or a precise ownership percentage. For that reason, claims that Sean McCormick received a specific multi-million-dollar cheque—or claims assigning him a precise net worth—should be treated as speculation unless transaction documents or the parties disclose the figures.
There is evidence the company had already reached meaningful scale. Years before the 2021 deal, the Winnipeg Free Press reported Manitobah revenue in the $10-million-to-$20-million range for the Growth 500 period. By 2021, the company had expanded further and attracted an established consumer-focused private-equity investor. That makes the transaction commercially significant, but it does not give journalists permission to invent a valuation.
Did Sean McCormick Sell Manitobah Mukluks?
The most accurate answer is that the 2021 Endeavour transaction gave existing shareholders partial liquidity and brought in a new investment partner. Endeavour does not describe the transaction on its portfolio page as a simple 100% acquisition from McCormick.
Industry reporting shortly afterward described a new ownership agreement involving Endeavour and Montreal Lake Cree Nation, while Greg Tunney became CEO. That marked a major transition from founder-led operations to the next stage of institutional growth.
For Indigenous entrepreneurship, the distinction is worth preserving. An entrepreneurial exit or liquidity event can turn years of founder risk into capital that can be redeployed. But the public evidence supports describing this transaction carefully—not attaching an unsupported sale price or founder net-worth figure to it.
Raven Indigenous Capital Partners: The Connection People May Be Mixing Up
Raven Indigenous Capital Partners did not buy Manitobah. The connection is Sean McCormick himself.
Raven’s current team page lists McCormick as a General Partner. Raven invests in Indigenous and Native American-led businesses across North America. The Canadian Venture Capital & Private Equity Association has described Raven as North America’s first Indigenous-led and owned venture-capital intermediary.
That creates a compelling second chapter. McCormick went from building an Indigenous consumer brand to participating in an investment platform designed to help other Indigenous entrepreneurs access growth capital, networks and operating experience.
It is tempting to summarize that as “he made millions and reinvested his fortune,” but his personal proceeds and net worth are private. What can be verified is stronger journalism: he founded and scaled Manitobah, participated in a transaction that provided liquidity to shareholders, left the CEO role, and now works as a partner investing in Indigenous-led companies.
Who Owns Manitobah Mukluks Now?
Public disclosures establish Endeavour Capital as an investment partner and portfolio-company sponsor. They also establish Montreal Lake Business Ventures as an investor in Manitobah beginning in 2018. Precise current percentages are not publicly disclosed in the primary sources reviewed for this article.
What is clear is who does not own it: there is no evidence that UGG or Deckers Brands acquired Manitobah. Deckers’ own 2026 filings identify its brand portfolio without Manitobah, while Endeavour continues to list Manitobah in its portfolio.
Manitobah’s Indigenous Marketplace Still Sends 100% of Profits to Artists
The ownership story also needs to be separated from the brand’s current impact programs. Manitobah became a Certified B Corporation in 2023. Its Indigenous Market features handmade work by Indigenous artists, and Manitobah states that artists receive 100% of the profits from those sales.
In its 2024 social-impact reporting, the company said contributions to Indigenous artists through the Indigenous Market had surpassed $1 million. The program sits alongside Storyboot School, which teaches moccasin and mukluk-making skills and supports the transmission of cultural knowledge.
Why the Real Manitobah Story Matters More Than the UGG Rumor
The easy headline is that a large American footwear company swallowed an Indigenous brand. The evidence does not support that story.
The documented story is about Indigenous entrepreneurship moving through several layers of capital: a Métis founder builds a global footwear company; a Cree Nation business arm becomes an equity partner; private equity provides liquidity and expansion capital; and the founder later takes his operating experience into Indigenous venture capital.
That is not a simple acquisition story. It is a case study in Indigenous participation on both sides of the capital table—as founder, shareholder, community investor and venture capitalist.
So, was Manitobah Mukluks sold to UGG? No. The better question is how an Indigenous-founded footwear business grew large enough to attract institutional capital—and how the people and communities involved are using business ownership to build the next generation of Indigenous enterprise.
