“I Had an Amazing Life”
In the farewell statement, dated January 1, Adams addressed his audience directly, acknowledging the gravity of his condition while expressing gratitude for his life and career.
“If you are reading this, things did not go well for me. I had an amazing life. I gave it everything I had,” Adams wrote.
“If my work helped you in any way, please pay it forward. Be useful. That’s the legacy I want.”
Miles said Adams had been receiving hospice care in recent weeks as his condition rapidly declined.
Public Plea for Treatment
In November, Adams publicly appealed to former U.S. President
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“I am declining fast,” Adams wrote on social media at the time, saying the treatment could give him “a fighting chance” to extend his life.
Trump responded publicly, later calling Adams a “great influencer” and offering condolences following news of his death.
Cancer Diagnosis and Public Disclosure
Adams first revealed his diagnosis in May, stating that he had an aggressive form of prostate cancer that had spread to his bones.
He shared the news shortly after former President
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On his YouTube show, Adams said he initially avoided going public out of fear of being defined solely by his illness, but ultimately chose transparency to express empathy and solidarity with others facing the disease.
The Rise of ‘Dilbert’
Born on June 8, 1957, in Windham, New York, Scott Raymond Adams grew up in the Catskills. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Hartwick College and later completed an MBA at the University of California, Berkeley.
While working as a bank teller and later as a corporate employee at Pacific Bell, Adams began sketching what would become “Dilbert” — a satirical take on office culture, bureaucracy, and corporate absurdity.
First syndicated in 1989, “Dilbert” ran for decades in thousands of newspapers nationwide and spawned bestselling books, calendars, and an animated television series.
Innovation and Cultural Impact
Adams was an early internet adopter, launching a Dilbert website during the tech boom of the 1990s and becoming one of the first syndicated cartoonists to publish an email address directly in his comic strip.
Reader feedback helped shape the strip’s focus on workplace satire, a formula that resonated strongly with white-collar workers across generations.
Politics and Controversy
Over time, Adams became increasingly vocal about politics, blogging and producing online content that drew both supporters and critics.
In 2016, he correctly predicted Trump’s election victory and later authored the bestselling book Win Bigly, praising Trump’s persuasion skills.
However, Adams’ career suffered a major setback in 2023 when “Dilbert” was dropped by most newspapers following racially charged remarks made during an online broadcast. Adams declined to issue an apology, stating that his comments were intentional.
He later relaunched the comic as a subscription-based online series titled Dilbert Reborn.
Legacy
Despite controversy late in his career, Scott Adams leaves behind a lasting legacy as one of the most influential workplace satirists in American pop culture.
His creation captured the frustrations, humor, and contradictions of corporate life, shaping how generations of readers viewed office culture.
