Highlights
- Scott Adams, creator of Dilbert comic strip, died of cancer at age 68.
- Ex-wife Shelly Miles announced his death during live podcast stream on Tuesday.
- Adams had been receiving end-of-life care after cancer spread to his bones.
Scott Adams, the American cartoonist who created the satirical comic strip Dilbert, has died of cancer at the age of 68.
His ex-wife Shelly Miles announced his death on Tuesday during a live stream of his podcast, Real Coffee with Scott Adams.
Adams had been receiving end-of-life care at his home after prostate cancer, first revealed in May 2025, spread to his bones.
The Dilbert comic strip, featuring a competent but frustrated engineer navigating a dysfunctional workplace, was first published in 1989.
It went on to appear in more than 2,000 newspapers across 65 countries and later expanded into books, an animated television series and a video game.
Adams won the National Cartoonists Society's Reuben Award in 1997 for his work on Dilbert, as well as the Newspaper Comic Strip Award.
However, in 2023, his comic strip was cancelled by newspapers including the Washington Post after Adams was accused of making racist comments about black people.
He called black Americans a "hate group" and suggested white Americans "get the hell away from black people," responding to a conservative organisation's poll.
Adams later defended his comments, saying he had used hyperbole to make a point and that media reports ignored the context.
US President Donald Trump paid tribute on Truth Social, "Sadly, the Great Influencer, Scott Adams, has passed away. He was a fantastic guy, who liked and respected me when it wasn't fashionable to do so. He bravely fought a long battle against a terrible disease."
A tearful Shelly Miles read out a posthumous message from Adams during Tuesday's podcast, "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. That's the legacy I want. Be useful, and please know I loved you all to the very end."
On January (1), Adams told listeners his chances of recovery were unlikely, saying he had lost feeling in his legs and was experiencing ongoing heart failure that made breathing difficult.
