Scott Adams, the creator of popular comic strip “Dilbert,” has died following a lengthy battle with metastatic prostate cancer. He was 68.
Adams’ death was revealed by his first ex-wife, Shelly Miles, on “Real Coffee With Scott Adams” Tuesday, Jan. 13.
“Of course he waited until just before the show started, but he’s not with us anymore,” Miles said while holding back tears.
She the proceeded to share Adams’ final message he left for his followers.
“If you are reading this, things did not go well for me,” Miles said while reading Adams’ message.
“My body fell before my brain. I am of sound mind as I write this Jan. 1, 2026,” she continued. “If you wonder about any of my choices for my estate, or anything else, please know that I am free of any inappropriate influence of any sort. I promise.”
Adams’ death came more than a week after the famous comic creator revealed that his chances of surviving cancer were “essentially zero.”
He said during a New Year’s Day broadcast of “Real Coffee with Scott Adams” on Rumble that his prostate cancer diagnosis has significantly worsened.
“I talked to my radiologist yesterday. And it’s all bad news — the odds of me recovering are essentially zero. I’ll give you any updates if that changes, but it won’t,” the cartoonist said, according to Newsweek.
“So there’s no chance that I’ll get my feeling back in my legs and I’ve got some ongoing heart failure, which is making it difficult to breathe sometimes during the day,” Adams continued. “You should prepare yourself that January will probably be a month of transition, one way or another.”
Adams revealed his diagnosis with metastatic prostate cancer in May 2025. At the time, the illustrator said his life was about to come to an end, adding, “I expect to be checking out from this domain sometime this summer.”
Adams continued to provide updates on his cancer battle. In November 2025, the known supporter of President Donald Trump publicly asked for help securing cancer treatment with the FDA-approved medication Pluvicto. Trump responded: “On it!” after Adams posted an appeal on social media, Newsweek reported.
Born in Windham, New York in 1957, was a fan of the “Peanuts” comics growing up and started drawing his own at a young age. After completing an MBA from University of California, Berkley, Adams worked as bank teller, PEOPLE reported. He left his corporate job in 1995 to focus on “Dilbert” full time.
The comic strip, which draws on humor from American corporate life, has appeared in thousands of publications since it was first published in 1989. “Dilbert” was also reimagined as an animated series in 1999 on UPN and inspired dozens of books — all written by Adams.
Numerous outlets announced in 2023 that they would stop running “Dilbert” after Adams’ racist comments, including one that white people should “get the hell away from Black people,” according to USA TODAY.
At the time, Adams defended his comments as “obvious hyperbole” and maintained that he was highlighting racial tensions in America, according to Newsweek.
In addition, Adams wrote many books outside of the “Dilbert” universe over the course of his career, including “How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big” (2013), “Win Bigly: Persuasion in a World Where Facts Don’t Matter” (2017) and “Loserthink: How Untrained Brains Are Ruining America” (2019).
He launched his podcast series in March 2018 as a way of “helping people think about the world and their lives in a more productive way,” Adams wrote in his final message.
“I didn’t plan it this way, but it ended up helping lots of lonely people find a community that made them less lonely again. That had great meaning to me,” he wrote.
“I had an amazing life. I gave it everything I had. If I got any benefits from my work, I’m asking that you pay it forward as best as you can,” Miles continued. “That’s the legacy I want. Be useful and please know I loved you all to the very end.”
Adams was married to Miles from 2006 until their 2014 divorce, according to The Hollywood Reporter. He was then married to his second wife, Kristina Basham, from 2020 until their 2024 divorce. Adams had no children, per THR.
