Scott Adams, Cartoonist Who Satirized Corporate Life, Passes Away- Scott Adams, the creator of the iconic workplace comic strip Dilbert, has died at the age of 68. He passed away Tuesday at his home in Pleasanton, California. One of his ex-wives, Shelly Miles Adams, announced his death during a livestream, reading a statement he had prepared: “I had an amazing life. I gave it everything I had.” Adams had disclosed earlier this year that he was battling metastatic prostate cancer.
Adams drew from his own experiences in the corporate world to create Dilbert. He worked as a teller and manager at Crocker National Bank in San Francisco, then as an engineer at Pacific Bell. His time in cubicles and dull meetings inspired the humor and satire that would make Dilbert a worldwide phenomenon. Even while at Crocker, Adams entertained himself by sketching caricatures of his coworkers, which were circulated around the office by fax.
After earning an MBA from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1986, Adams submitted his cartoon to newspaper syndicates. United Feature Syndicate picked it up in 1989, initially distributing it to 35 papers. By 1995, Adams left Pac Bell to focus on Dilbert full-time, and the strip eventually appeared in around 2,000 newspapers. In addition to comic collections, Adams authored business books, created merchandise, and produced an animated TV series.
Dilbert portrayed the absurdities of office life: the clueless Pointy-Haired Boss, the ambitious yet frustrated engineer Dilbert, Dogbert’s schemes for world domination, and the quirky office staff. Millions of readers connected with its satire of corporate bureaucracy, pointless meetings, and office politics, though some critics argued that it often relied on sarcasm rather than offering deeper challenges to workplace power structures.
In later years, Adams courted controversy for statements on his YouTube show that were widely criticized as racist, misogynistic, transphobic, and anti-Semitic. These remarks led several newspapers to drop the strip in 2023. Adams was also known for his vocal support of former President Donald Trump.
Scott Adams’ life was a mix of humor, satire, and controversy. He leaves behind a complex legacy as a cartoonist who captured the frustrations of office life while provoking debate and discussion on social issues.
