Scott Adams

Scott Raymond Adams was born on June 8, 1957, in Windham, New York, to Paul and Virginia (née Vining) Adams. He said that he was "about half German" and had English, Irish, Welsh, Scottish, and Dutch ancestry. In 2016, he said he had a small amount of Native American ancestry, but later discovered via 23andMe genetic testing that he has no detectable Native American genetic markers. He was a fan of Peanuts comics while growing up and began drawing comics at age 6. He won a drawing competition at 11. He then moved to California and worked there. Adams took Dale Carnegie Training courses and called them "life changing". ==Career==

Office worker Adams worked closely with telecommunications engineers at Crocker National Bank in San Francisco between 1979 and 1986. Upon joining the organization, he first worked as a teller. After four months in which he was twice held up at gunpoint, he entered a management training program. His positions included management trainee, computer programmer, budget analyst, commercial lender, product manager, and supervisor. The Dilbert name was suggested by his former boss, Mike Goodwin. Dogbert, originally named Dildog, was loosely based on his family's deceased pet beagle Lucy. His submissions of Dilbert and other comic panels to various publications, including The New Yorker and Playboy, were not published, but an inspirational letter from a fan persuaded Adams to keep trying. and the personalities he encountered there inspired many of his Dilbert characters. In 1989, while still employed at Pacific Bell, Adams launched Dilbert with United Media. To maintain his income, he continued to draw his cartoons during the early morning hours. His first payment for Dilbert was a monthly royalty check of $368.62. Dilbert gradually became more popular. It was syndicated in 100 newspapers in 1991 and 400 by 1994. Adams attributed his success to his idea of including his email address in the panels, which resulted in feedback and suggestions from readers. His writing in San Jose Mercury News West Magazine regarding the incident earned him an Orwell Award. In addition to his cartoon work, Adams wrote books in various other areas, including self-improvement and religion. In The Religion War (2004), Adams suggests that followers of theistic religions such as Christianity and Islam are subconsciously aware that their beliefs are false, and that this awareness is reflected in their consistently acting as if these religions, and their threats of damnation for sinners, are untrue. In a 2017 interview, Adams said that his books on religion, not Dilbert, would be his ultimate legacy. a phrase described by the Anti-Defamation League as associated with the white supremacist movement. The poll showed 26% of black respondents disagreed with the statement and 21% were not sure. Adams, upset that nearly half did not agree, described black people as a "hate group" and said "the best advice I would give to white people is to get the hell away from black people; just get the fuck away". In response to those and other related comments, Dilbert was dropped by numerous newspapers across the country, including The New York Times (in its international print edition), Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, and USA Today-affiliated newspapers. Adams defended his remarks as hyperbole and as taken out of context in reportage; he disavowed racism and asserted that nobody would disagree with what he said were his main points: do not discriminate and avoid things that look like they will put one at risk. On March 13, Adams relaunched Dilbert as Dilbert Reborn on the subscription website Locals, minus the earlier Dilbert comics. On November 15, 2025, he announced he would no longer draw Dilbert because his right hand had focal dystonia and his left hand was semi-paralyzed, but would continue writing the strip as long as he was able to. His art director took over as the artist. Real Coffee with Scott Adams In 2015, Adams wrote blog posts predicting that Donald Trump had a 98 percent chance of winning the presidency based on his persuasion skills, and he started writing about Trump's persuasion techniques. His pieces on this topic grew popular, so he started writing about it regularly. Adams soon developed this as a daily video presentation called Real Coffee with Scott Adams, distributed to Periscope, YouTube, and ScottAdamsSays.com. Real Coffee with Scott Adams featured guests such as Naval Ravikant, Ed Latimore, Dave Rubin, Erik Finman, Greg Gutfeld, Matt Gaetz, Ben Askren, Carpe Donktum, Steve Hsu, Michael Shellenberger, Carson Griffith, Shiva Ayyadurai, James Nortey, Clint Morgan, and Bjørn Lomborg. In 2018, Kanye West shared several clips on Twitter from the Coffee episode "Scott Adams tells you how Kanye showed the way to The Golden Age. With Coffee." In 2020, President Trump retweeted an episode where Adams mocked Joe Biden. Adams offered paid subscriptions for exclusive content on Locals. In 2020, Adams said: "For context, I expect my Dilbert income to largely disappear in the next year as newspapers close up forever. The coronavirus sped up that inevitable trend. Like many of you, I'm reinventing my life for a post-coronavirus world. The Locals platform is a big part of that." Other Adams started Scott Adams Foods, Inc. in 1999, which made the Dilberito and Protein Chef. First announced in The Dilbert Future and introduced in 1999, the Dilberito was a vegetarian microwave burrito that came in flavors of Mexican, Indian, Barbecue, and Garlic & Herb. It was sold through some health food stores. Adams's inspiration for the product was that "diet is the number one cause of health-related problems in the world. I figured I could put a dent in that problem and make some money at the same time." He aimed to create a healthy food product that also had mass appeal, a concept he called "the blue jeans of food". A Flash game titled Dilberito was developed and published by Blam! Video Game Development in 2000 for Scott Adams Foods. The product failed to catch on in the market, leading Adams "several years and several million dollars later" to sell off his intellectual property and exit the business. Adams himself said, "[t]he mineral fortification was hard to disguise, and because of the veggie and legume content, three bites of the Dilberito made you fart so hard your intestines formed a tail." The New York Times said the burrito "could have been designed only by a food technologist or by someone who eats lunch without much thought to taste". Adams sold off his intellectual property in Scott Adams Foods when the Dilberito failed in the marketplace in 2003. He was a restaurateur starting in 1997, but exited that business before 2017. In 2019, Adams briefly received negative media attention when during the Gilroy Garlic Festival shooting he posted a tweet suggesting that witnesses download the WhenHub app and "set your price to take calls". He later apologized, saying the message was "poorly worded". the WhenHub website is inactive. He had a cameo in "Review", a third-season episode of the TV series NewsRadio, in which Matthew Brock (played by Andy Dick) becomes an obsessed Dilbert fan. Adams is credited as "Guy in line behind Dave and Joe in first scene". Adams was a guest on podcasts including Making Sense with Sam Harris, The Tim Ferriss Show, The James Altucher Show, The Ben Shapiro Show, The Rubin Report, Real Talk with Zuby and The David Pakman Show. He appeared on Real Time with Bill Maher, Commonwealth Club of California, Fox News and Berkeley Haas. Adams was interviewed for Mike Cernovich's documentaries Silenced (2016) and Hoaxed (2019). ==Political views==

Adams often commented on political and social matters, although he said in 2016, "I don't vote and I am not a member of a political party." As of 2008, Adams identified his views on social issues as "[leaning] libertarian, minus the crazy stuff". After endorsing Mitt Romney for the 2012 presidential election, Adams endorsed Donald Trump in the following election. During that election, he wrote extensively on Trump, praising his persuasion skills and later described his support for Trump as a factor in ending his public speaking career, as well as negatively impacting his income and friendships. He also spoke against Trump's opponent Hillary Clinton, expressing concerns that Clinton's candidacy would lower the status of men in America. In 2017, Adams described his views as supporting left-wing policies he perceived as realistic. Adams made various predictions about politics. Early in the 2016 election, Adams predicted Trump would win based on his analysis of how persuasive the candidates were. As Trump gained momentum, Adams's election analysis gained media and popular attention. that "Republicans will be hunted" if Joe Biden won the 2020 presidential election and that the 2024 presidential election would be ultimately overturned in Trump's favor by the U.S. Supreme Court regardless of outcome. After the 2022 Highland Park parade shooting, Adams opined that society leaves parents of troubled teenage boys with only two options: to either watch people die or murder their own son. He said his comments were inspired by his own stepson, who became addicted to drugs at age 14 and later died of a fentanyl overdose. Adams was anti-masking and anti-COVID-19 vaccines, as he believed that people unvaccinated against COVID-19 "came out the best" compared to vaccinated people, which PolitiFact determined to be incorrect. In a 2006 blog post, Adams asked if official figures of the number of deaths in the Holocaust were based on methodologically sound research. In 2020, Adams said that the Dilbert TV show was cancelled because he was white and UPN had decided to focus on an African-American audience, and that he had been discriminated against. In a series of comic strips in September 2022, Dilbert parodied environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) strategies. Part of the plotline involved a black character who "identif[ied] as white" and the company management asking him if he could also identify as gay. ==Personal life==

Adams married Shelly Miles aboard a yacht, the Galaxy Commodore, on July 22, 2006, in San Francisco Bay, in a ceremony conducted by the ship's captain. The two had met at a gym in Pleasanton, California, where Shelly was an employee and Adams was a customer. Adams was a stepfather to Shelly's two children, Savannah and Justin, the latter of whom died of a fentanyl overdose in 2018 at age 18. Adams and Shelly divorced in 2014, and Adams said the two remained friends, with Shelly moving a block away after their separation. On Christmas Day in 2019, Adams announced on his podcast that he was engaged to Kristina Basham, and later said that they married on July 11, 2020. Basham, a model and baker, has two daughters and is a vice-president at WhenHub. On March 10, 2022, Adams announced on his YouTube podcast that he and Basham were getting divorced. Adams said he was trained as a hypnotist. He credited affirmations for many of his achievements, including scoring in the ninety-fourth percentile on a difficult qualification exam for business school and creating Dilberts success. He said that the affirmations gave him focus. The technique is used by Dogbert in a 1989 Dilbert strip. Adams lived in Pleasanton, California, and traveled in the San Francisco Bay Area. He had no biological children. Shortly before his death, Adams announced his intention to convert to Christianity, despite continuing to identify as a nonbeliever. He viewed the decision in pragmatic, cost-to-benefit terms, concluding the potential benefit of eternal salvation to outweigh any downside if the belief proved to be false. ==Health and death==

In the early 1990s, the pinky finger of Adams's right hand would spasm when he tried to draw, and he was diagnosed with focal dystonia. He said he cured himself by doing a conditioning exercise. In late 2004, his focal dystonia returned, which affected his ability to draw for lengthy periods. Beginning in 2014, he drew on a graphics tablet, and had subsequently switched from using his right hand to his left. He also had spasmodic dysphonia, a condition that causes the vocal cords to behave abnormally. In July 2008, he underwent surgery to reroute the nerve connections to his vocal cords and his voice functionality improved. Adams announced on his daily podcast Real Coffee with Scott Adams in May 2025 that he was diagnosed with stage IV prostate cancer which spread to his bones. He noted that taking ivermectin and fenbendazole to treat the cancer did not work. In June, he had prepared for physician-assisted suicide through the California End of Life Option Act, and had planned to go through with it after his stepdaughter's wedding at the end of the month, as the pain was too much to handle. At this point, he began taking testosterone blocker pills which caused his pain to abate. This medication was suggested initially but Adams had declined this treatment. This medication dropped his prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels by 90%, which he said would prolong his life by between weeks and years. In the autumn of 2025, Adams asked Trump on social media for access to the cancer drug Pluvicto due to the rapid progression of his cancer. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. replied saying "How do I reach you? The President wants to help." While undergoing radiation therapy for the cancer, he was eventually paralyzed below the waist. Adams disclosed on Real Coffee in January 2026 about his ongoing heart failure diagnosis as well as the low chances of recovering from the cancer. He died while under hospice care at his Pleasanton home on January 13, 2026 at the age of 68. Trump would post on his Truth Social platform later that day to give his condolences to his family and thanked him for his support even when facing backlash from others. ==Legacy and recognition==

Adams received recognition for his work, including the National Cartoonists Society Reuben Award and Newspaper Comic Strip Award for 1997 for his work on Dilbert. He was listed on the Thinkers50 Ranking of the 50 most influential management thinkers, placing 31st in 2001, 27th in 2003, 12th in 2005, and 21st in 2007. He received the Orwell Award in 1998 for his participation in "Mission Impertinent" for San Jose Mercury News West Magazine. ==Publications==

Dilbert compilations • Always Postpone Meetings with Time-Wasting Morons (1992), • Shave the Whales (1994), • Bring Me the Head of Willy the Mailboy! (1995), • ''It's Obvious You Won't Survive by Your Wits Alone'' (1995) • Still Pumped from Using the Mouse (1996) • Fugitive from the Cubicle Police (1996) • Casual Day Has Gone Too Far (1997) • ''I'm Not Anti-Business, I'm Anti-Idiot'' (1998), • Journey to Cubeville (1998), • ''Don't Step in the Leadership'' (1999), • Random Acts of Management (2000), • Excuse Me While I Wag (2001), • When Did Ignorance Become a Point of View? (2001), • Another Day in Cubicle Paradise (2002), • All Dressed Down and Nowhere to Go (2002), (Still Pumped from Using the Mouse, Casual Day Has Gone Too Far, and ''I'm Not Anti-Business, I'm Anti-Idiot'' combined) • When Body Language Goes Bad: A Dilbert Book (2003), • ''Words You Don't Want to Hear During Your Annual Performance Review'' (2003), • ''Don't Stand Where the Comet Is Assumed to Strike Oil: A Dilbert Book'' (2004), • The Fluorescent Light Glistens Off Your Head (2005), • Thriving on Vague Objectives: A Dilbert Collection (2005), • Try Rebooting Yourself: A Dilbert Collection (2006), • Positive Attitude: A Dilbert Collection (2007), • This Is the Part Where You Pretend to Add Value: A Dilbert Book (2008), • Dilbert 2.0: 20 Years of Dilbert (2008), • ''Freedom's Just Another Word for People Finding Out You're Useless'' (2009), • 14 Years of Loyal Service in a Fabric-Covered Box: A Dilbert Book (2009), • ''I'm Tempted to Stop Acting Randomly'' (2010), • ''How's That Underling Thing Working Out for You?'' (2011), • ''Teamwork Means You Can't Pick the Side that's Right'' (2012), • Your New Job Title Is "Accomplice" (2013), • I Sense a Coldness to Your Mentoring (2013), • Go Add Value Someplace Else (2014), • Optimism Sounds Exhausting (2015), • ''I'm No Scientist, But I Think Feng Shui Is Part of the Answer: A Dilbert Book'' (2016), • Dilbert Gets Re-accommodated (2017), • Cubicles That Make You Envy the Dead (2018), • Dilbert Turns 30 (2019), Special compilations (annotated, favorites, etc.) • ''Build a Better Life by Stealing Office Supplies: Dogbert's Big Book of Business'' (1991), • ''Dogbert's Clues for the Clueless'' (1993), • ''Seven Years of Highly Defective People: Scott Adams' Guided Tour of the Evolution of Dilbert'' (1997), • Dilbert Gives You the Business (1999), • Dilbert, a Treasury of Sunday Strips, Version 00 (2000), • What Do You Call a Sociopath in a Cubicle? Answer: A Coworker (2002), • ''It's Not Funny If I Have to Explain It: A Dilbert Book'' (2004), • What Would Wally Do?: A Dilbert Treasury (2006), • Cubes and Punishment: A Dilbert Book (2007), • ''Problem Identified: And You're Probably Not Part of the Solution'' (2010), • Your Accomplishments Are Suspiciously Hard to Verify (2011), • ''I Can't Remember If We're Cheap or Smart: Dilbert'' (2012), Other Dilbert books • ''Telling It Like It Isn't'' (1996), • ''You Don't Need Experience If You've Got Attitude'' (1996), • ''Access Denied: Dilbert's Quest for Love in the Nineties'' (1996), • Conversations With Dogbert (1996), • Work Is a Contact Sport (1997), • The Boss: Nameless, Blameless and Shameless (1997), • The Dilbert Bunch (1997), • ''No...You'd Better Watch Out!'' (1997), • ''Please Don't Feed the Egos: And Other Tips for Corporate Survival'' (1997), • Random Acts of Catness (1998), • ''You Can't Schedule Stupidity'' (1998), • Dilbert Meeting Book: Exceeding Tech Limits (1998), • Dilbert Book Of Days: Trapped in a Dilbert World (1998), • Work—The Wally Way (1999), • Alice in Blunderland (1999), • Dilbert Sudoku Comic Digest: 200 Puzzles Plus 50 Classic Dilbert Cartoons (2008), Dilbert-related business publications • Dilbert Newsletter (since 1994) • The Dilbert Principle (1996), • ''Dogbert's Top Secret Management Handbook'' (1996), • The Dilbert Future: Thriving on Stupidity in the 21st Century (1997), • The Joy of Work (1998), • Dilbert and the Way of the Weasel (2002), • Slapped Together: The Dilbert Business Anthology (2002), (The Dilbert Principle, The Dilbert Future, and The Joy of Work, published together in one book) • ''Dilbert's Guide to the Rest of Your Life: Dispatches from Cubicleland'' (2007), Non-Dilbert publications • ''God's Debris'' (2001), • ''Win Bigly: Persuasion in a World Where Facts Don't Matter'' (2017), • Loserthink: How Untrained Brains Are Ruining America (2019), • Reframe Your Brain: The User Interface for Happiness and Success (2023), • ''Win Bigly: Persuasion in a World Where Facts Don't Matter'', 2nd edition (2024), ==References==