Scott Adams, the cartoonist whose bespectacled engineer Dilbert became the patron saint of disgruntled office workers worldwide, has died. He was 68. His ex-wife, Shelly Miles, confirmed the news on Tuesday, appearing on Adams’ daily podcast, Real Coffee with Scott Adams, to deliver a final message from the author. Adams passed away on January 13, 2026, following a nearly year-long public battle with Stage 4 prostate cancer.
His death marks the end of a career that saw one of the most precipitous rises and falls in modern pop culture history. For three decades, Adams was a ubiquitous voice in American humor, with Dilbert appearing in over 2,000 newspapers. In his final years, however, he became a polarizing political commentator whose comic empire collapsed overnight following a racist tirade in 2023.
“My Body Failed Before My Brain”
Adams approached his death with the same analytical, often detached demeanor he brought to his work. In a letter read by Miles on January 1, 2026, during the livestream, Adams addressed his audience directly.
“I expect to be checking out of this domain this summer. If you are reading this, things did not go well for me,” the letter began. “My body failed before my brain. I am of sound mind as I write this… I had an amazing life. I gave it everything I had.”
Adams first revealed his diagnosis in May 2025, sharing with listeners that his cancer had metastasized to his bones. At the time, he noted the grim irony that he shared the diagnosis with President Joe Biden, a figure he frequently criticized. “The odds of me recovering are essentially zero,” he told fans last year, though he continued to broadcast his show until days before his death.
[Link: Watch Shelly Miles read Scott Adams’ final letter on the ‘Real Coffee’ podcast – YouTube]
Born in Windham, New York, in 1957, Adams worked various corporate jobs at Pacific Bell and Crocker National Bank before launching Dilbert in 1989. The strip struck a nerve by abandoning the traditional gag format in favor of biting satire about micromanagement, corporate buzzwords, and the absurdity of white-collar life.
By the late 90s, Dilbert was a phenomenon. It spawned a fiercely loved animated series, hundreds of millions of dollars in merchandise, and bestselling business books like The Dilbert Principle. Adams was hailed as a visionary who understood the soul-crushing nature of the modern cubicle.
“He gave a voice to the voiceless employee,” said cartoon historian Robert Thompson. “Before The Office, there was Dilbert.”
The Fall From Grace
Adams’ legacy will likely be forever defined by his self-destruction in February 2023. After years of flirting with controversial topics online, Adams posted a YouTube video reacting to a Rasmussen poll that asked whether “It’s okay to be white.” When a percentage of Black respondents disagreed, Adams labeled Black Americans a “hate group” and advised white people to “get the hell away” from them.
The backlash was instantaneous. Within 48 hours, his syndicator, Andrews McMeel Universal, severed ties. Major publications, including The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, and USA Today, dropped the strip. His publisher canceled his upcoming non-fiction book.
Adams remained defiant to the end. He refused to apologize and claimed his words were taken out of context. He pivoted fully to his podcast and subscription site, Locals, where he cultivated a loyal following of conservative supporters who viewed him as a martyr of “cancel culture.”
Tributes From the Right
Following the announcement of his death, tributes poured in from the political figures Adams had aligned himself with in his later years.
President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social, calling Adams a “fantastic guy who liked and respected me when it wasn’t fashionable to do so.” Elon Musk, who had previously defended Adams’ right to free speech during the 2023 controversy, simply posted a broken heart emoji alongside a vintage Dilbert strip.
Conversely, the mainstream comics community has remained largely silent. This reflects the deep divide Adams created within the industry.
A Complicated Final Chapter
In his final letter, Adams reflected on his shift from cartoonist to pundit. He described his life in two acts. The first focused on being a “worthy husband and parent,” and the second on finding “utility” in sharing his worldview.
He is survived by his ex-wife, Shelly Miles, with whom he maintained a close friendship despite their 2014 divorce. Adams frequently spoke about the tragedy of losing his stepson to an overdose in 2018, a grief that often softened his otherwise jagged public persona.
As the news circulates, fans are left to reconcile the man who made them laugh at their bosses with the man who spent his final years shouting at the culture.
“Scott Adams was a genius at observing the little things,” one fan wrote on X. “It’s a tragedy he couldn’t see the big things.”
