Scott Adams

Scott Adams (1957–2026) was an American cartoonist and writer best known as the creator of Dilbert, a comic strip that became a global phenomenon by satirizing the absurdity of white-collar office culture. Drawing from his own background in economics and management, and his years spent in the telecommunications industry, Adams crafted a world of "pointless cubicle tasks" and incompetent management that resonated with millions of employees worldwide. His satirical book, The Dilbert Principle, further solidified his status as a leading voice on the dysfunctions of corporate life, even as he faced personal health challenges like focal dystonia and spasmodic dysphonia that periodically impacted his ability to draw and speak.

In his later years, Adams’s career was overshadowed by significant controversy following his transition into social and political commentary. In 2023, he released a video discussing a Rasmussen Reports poll in which 26% of Black respondents disagreed with the phrase "It’s okay to be white," while another 21% were unsure. Adams characterized Black Americans as a "hate group" and advised white people to "get the hell away" from them. These remarks led to a massive backlash, resulting in major publications like The Washington Post and USA Today dropping Dilbert from their pages. While figures like Elon Musk defended him by accusing the media of anti-white bias, the incident effectively ended the mainstream syndication of his work.

In May 2025, Adams used his podcast, Real Coffee with Scott Adams, to announce that he had been diagnosed with metastatic prostate cancer. He spent his final months documenting his perspective on his health and his controversial legacy before passing away on January 13, 2026, in Pleasanton, California. His ex-wife, Shelly Miles, confirmed his death on his YouTube channel, marking the end of a career that began with universal acclaim for capturing the "office grind" and concluded in a deeply polarized public debate over free speech and racial discourse.