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Scott Adams, creator of the “Dilbert” cartoon that brought him fame and fortune, died Tuesday morning at his home in Pleasanton from metastasized prostate cancer. He was 68.
Adams passed shortly before his daily YouTube podcast, “Real Coffee with Scott Adams”. His ex-wife, Shelly Miles, read a letter he had written announcing his death. The 30-plus minute message included him following through on a commitment to accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.
Adams announced his diagnosis in May 2025 after the public learned that former President Joe Biden also was suffering from metastasized prostate cancer.
Health permitting, Adams continued to do his daily podcast including one episode from a medical transfer ambulance en route to a treatment. He was broadcasting from a hospital bed in his home. His New Year’s Day message bluntly stated there was no good news from his doctors.
His letter concluded, “I had an amazing life. I gave it everything I had. If you got any benefits from my work, I’m asking you to pay it forward as best you can. That is the legacy I want.”
Adams jumped into the political debate when he publicly backed Donald Trump for president in 2016.
He reached out to Trump directly in November when he was frustrated by the pace of his treatment regimen by Kaiser Permanente. The president responded and asked a few of his cabinet officials, as well as his son, Don Jr., to respond. Based on Adams’ latter comments, it was clear that Kaiser officials also responded and he was more conciliatory in understanding what was required before the actual treatment.
When the United States military and justice department executed the operation to arrest Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife this month, Adams tweeted triumphantly, “This is why,” referring to the reason he backed Trump in what would be one of his final political comments.
His views sparked some controversy when in 2023, he commented on a survey about Black people’s attitudes on white people, slamming Black people. That prompted his “Dilbert” distributor as well as most newspapers to drop the cartoon strip.
Adams launched “Dilbert” in 1989 while working at Pacific Bell in San Ramon. The huge million-square-foot structure with its four wings provided the inspiration and fodder for the cartoon that was carried by more than 2,000 newspapers at its height.
One habit setting him aside was his routine of including his email in the cartoon —what he described as a good source of ideas.
He also wrote several books along the “Dilbert” theme as well as his own lessons from life. There are more than 10 choices on Amazon.
He was born in Windham, N.Y. and graduated from Hartwick College in Oneonta with a bachelor’s in economics. He came west to work for Crocker Bank and earned an MBA from Haas Business School at University of California, Berkeley in 1986 when he also joined Pac Bell.
Subscribing newspapers for “Dilbert” grew to 100 in 1991 and 400 three years later. He was honored for the strip and his work by the national cartoonists’ association in 1997 and launched a television show on UPN with “Seinfeld” writer Larry Charles that ran two seasons. It won a primetime Emmy in 1989.
He co-owned Stacey’s Cafe with its namesake at 310 Main St. in downtown Pleasanton. The menu featured his jokes as well as favorite foods in the space that was built for a restaurant with patios for outdoor dining. It was open for lunch and dinner and was a favorite spot for contemporary comfort food.
A second location was at the Waterford in Dublin (off Tassajara at the corner of Dublin Boulevard) Both eventually closed — Elia is now operating at the Pleasanton site.
His custom-built home off Crellin Road on the east Pleasanton ridge features a tribute to “Dilbert” in the architecture.
Service arrangements are pending.
