Who was Scott Adams? What to know about ‘Dilbert’ creator's death

Scott Adams, the commentator and cartoonist behind the iconic comic strip "Dilbert", died this week after a battle with cancer.

Adams, who maintained a sizable fan base through his podcast and YouTube channel "Real Coffee with Scott Adams," announced his diagnosis in the spring of 2025. His ex-wife, Shelly Miles, confirmed Adams' death during a livestream on Jan. 13, weeks after Adams warned fans on a previous episode that his health was deteriorating.

"Hi, everyone. Unfortunately, this isn't good news," Miles said. "Of course, he waited 'til just before the show started, but he's not with us anymore."

Miles read a final letter written by Adams, which discussed his dedication to his religion and said, in part, "If you are reading this, things did not go well for me. I have a few things to say before I go. My body failed before my brain."

Here's what we know about Scott Adams, including his cause of death and who his family was.

Who was Scott Adams?

Scott Adams was an American cartoonist, commentator and author best known for creating the popular "Dilbert" comic strip. At its height, the satirical series was circulated in thousands of newspapers, earning a TV spinoff and accolades.

Adams wrote several books on religion and later became a political and social commentator, using his podcast "Real Coffee with Scott Adams" and other online platforms to continue creating content after a controversy wiped his comic strips from mainstream media sources.

How old was Scott Adams?

Scott Adams was 68 at the time of his death.

Adams was born on June 8, 1957, in Windham, New York, to Paul and Virginia Adams, according to Britannica, bios and Adams' archived website. He graduated from Windham-Ashland-Jewett Central School in 1975 before earning a bachelor's in economics from Hartwick College and an MBA from the University of California, Berkeley.

Scott Adams' cause of death

Adams shared a prostate cancer diagnosis in May, saying it had already metastasized, or spread, to his bones and other parts of his body. His health continued to deteriorate as the cancer spread to his spine and paralyzed him in the last months of his life.

In a New Year's episode of his podcast, he announced that his cancer had progressed to a point where his chances of recovery were "essentially zero" and told his fans to prepare for his death.

Scott Adams' family

Adams was married to his first wife, Shelly Miles, from 2006 to 2014. The two remained friends after separating, living near each other and sometimes working together on his podcast.

In 2020, he married his second wife, Kristina Basham, the vice president of WhenHub. The two divorced in 2022.

He did not have any children but was a stepfather to Miles' two children, Savannah and Justin. Basham also had two children at the time she married Adams.

Scott Adams' career, controversy

Adams worked a few corporate jobs early in his career, which provided him with fodder for his later work satirizing office life. After several publications rejected him, Adams launched his comic strip "Dilbert" with United Media in 1989.

Over the next decade, the observational comedy cartoon would earn Adams acclaim, with the illustrator receiving the National Cartoonists Society's Reuben Award in 1997. By 2013, the series was featured in 2,000 newspapers in 65 countries and translated into 25 languages, as reported by USA TODAY.

However, the pop cultural legacy of "Dilbert" screeched to a halt in 2023 after numerous newspapers, including the USA TODAY Network, announced they would stop running the strip due to racist comments made by Adams, who said that white people should "get the hell away from Black people." Adams said at the time that his remarks were meant to be hyperbolic.

Adams leaned into political commentary later in life, with his podcast and YouTube channel, supporting President Donald Trump's reelection campaign, making predictions and promoting right-wing talking points and ideologies. He garnered more pushback for several other controversial comments over the years, including anti-vaccine and anti-masking rhetoric, claiming he was discriminated against as a white man, making disparaging comments against women and questioning the number of people who died in the Holocaust.

"Dilbert" was later relaunched as a webcomic on Locals under the name "Daily Dilbert Reborn" after it was dropped from newspapers.

Besides the Reuben Award, Adams also received the Orwell Award in 1998 for his participation in the satire series "Mission Impertinent" for the San Jose Mercury News West Magazine. He was also listed on the Thinkers50 Ranking of the 50 most influential management thinkers in 2001, 2004, 2005 and 2007.

Contributing: Edward Segarra, USA TODAY