Scott Adams, the cartoonist best known for creating the long-running comic strip Dilbert, has died at the age of 68.
According to The Washington Post, his death was announced on Tuesday, January 13, during a livestream of his YouTube show, Real Coffee with Scott Adams, by his former wife, Shelly Miles. Adams had publicly shared last year that he was battling an aggressive form of prostate cancer that had spread to his bones.
During the livestream, Miles read a final message Adams prepared ahead of his death. In it, he reflected on his life and urged viewers to focus on usefulness and purpose. “I had an amazing life,” Adams wrote, adding that he gave it “everything I had.” He closed the message by telling his audience, “Please know I loved you all to the very end.”
Adams first revealed his diagnosis in May 2025, explaining on his show that he had “the same cancer that Joe Biden has … prostate cancer that has also spread to my bones.” He said the illness was terminal and that he was managing his remaining time accordingly.
Born in 1957, Adams earned a bachelor’s degree from Hartwick College and later completed an MBA at the University of California, Berkeley. Before finding success as a cartoonist, he worked in corporate America at Pacific Bell, where he began drawing cartoons inspired by office life. Those sketches eventually became Dilbert, which debuted nationally in 1989.
The strip struck a nerve by skewering workplace bureaucracy, management jargon, and the frustrations of white-collar employees. Its popularity exploded in the 1990s, leading to bestselling books, merchandise, an animated TV series, and even office supply commercials. In 1997, Adams won the National Cartoonist Society’s Reuben Award, and Dilbert became the first fictional character to land on Time magazine’s list of the most influential Americans.
However, Adams’ legacy became increasingly complicated in later years. His public commentary, particularly in the 2010s and early 2020s, drew widespread backlash. In 2023, most major newspapers dropped Dilbert following remarks widely condemned as racist and discriminatory, effectively ending the strip’s decades-long run. Adams later acknowledged the financial impact, saying he expected to lose most of his income from the comic.