‘Dilbert’ Creator Scott Adams Dies at 68: Leaves Final Message to Fans

Scott Adams, the controversial creator of the long-running comic strip Dilbert, died on January 13, 2026, after a long battle with cancer. Adams’ ex-wife, Shelley Miles, announced Adams’ death on the “Coffee with Scott Adams” podcast on January 13, saying that the cartoonist had passed right before the podcast went live, before tearfully reading a message from Adams to his fans.

Born in 1957 in New York, Adams, a former engineer, created Dilbert to poke fun at the absurdities of office life in 1989. The comic strip picked up steam throughout the ’90s, and at its peak, appeared in 2,000 newspapers around the world. The comic strip also led to a 1999 animated series, also called Dilbert.