Scott Adams, the creator of the famed Dilbert comic strip, has died at 68, his ex-wife confirmed on Tuesday.
Adams’s comic strip started in 1989 and became known for its satirical office humor on its title character. The comic strip and book author announced in May 2025 that he had been diagnosed with prostate cancer. His ex-wife and caretaker, Shelly Miles, announced he is “not with us anymore” on Tuesday.
Miles also read a final message that Scott wanted to share on his show, Coffee with Scott Adams, and said she was “trying to be strong” as she delivered it.
“If you are reading this, things did not go well for me,” Miles said in reading Scott’s message. “I have a few things to say before I go. My body fell before my brain. I am of sound mind as I write this, Jan. 1, 2026. If you wonder about any of my choices for my estate or anything else, please know I’m free of any coercion or inappropriate influence of any sort. I promise.”
Adams also confirmed in his letter that many of his Christian friends asked him to “find Jesus” before his death. While he did not identify as a Christian, the “risk-reward calculation” of converting seemed “so attractive” to him, and he proceeded to proclaim his belief in Jesus.
“I accept Jesus Christ as my lord and savior, and look forward to spending an eternity with him,” Adams’s letter reads. “The part about me not being a believer should be quickly resolved if I wake up in heaven. I won’t need any more convincing than that. I hope I’m still qualified for entry.”
In addition to his Dilbert comic, Adams also made a name for himself as an author, publishing the book How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big in 2013, which served partly as a memoir of Adams’s various careers in life and also as an explanation of how one can find success in the wake of failure.
The book ended up being “a huge success” and influenced “a wide variety of people,” Adams said in his letter. This book was followed up by another in 2017, Win Bigly: Persuasion in a World Where Facts Don’t Matter.
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Adams also ventured into podcasting, starting his own show, Coffee with Scott Adams, which he said helped “lots of lonely people find a community.” He concluded his letter by saying he had “an amazing life” and asked his supporters and fans to “pay it forward.”
In November 2025, Adams wrote on X that he reached out to President Donald Trump for help with his cancer treatment, saying he is “declining fast.” Trump shared Adams’s post on Truth Social, writing “on it!”