Scott Raymond Adams (June 8, 1957 – January 2026), the renowned cartoonist and creator of the iconic Dilbert comic strip, has passed away at age 68 after a courageous but ultimately losing battle with metastatic prostate cancer.
Born in Windham, New York, Adams captured the absurdities of corporate life with razor-sharp wit when he launched Dilbert in 1989. Featuring the hapless engineer Dilbert, his pointy-haired boss, and a cast of dysfunctional office archetypes, the strip exploded in popularity, appearing in over 2,000 newspapers worldwide at its peak and becoming a cultural touchstone for cubicle-dwelling workers everywhere in the 1990s and 2000s.
Beyond cartooning, Adams authored bestselling books on business, persuasion, and personal development, including The Dilbert Principle and Win Bigly. He also gained a large following through his daily podcast, Real Coffee with Scott Adams, where he analyzed news, politics, and persuasion techniques.In recent years, Adams faced significant controversy when his 2023 comments on race led to widespread newspaper cancellations of Dilbert. Undeterred, he relaunched the strip independently as a webcomic. Diagnosed with aggressive prostate cancer in 2025—the same type afflicting former President Joe Biden—Adams shared candid updates with fans until entering hospice care in early January 2026.He is survived by family, friends, and millions who found both laughter and truth in his observations of modern work life. His legacy endures in the timeless hilarity of Dilbert and the conversations he sparked about power, incompetence, and human nature.
