Scott Adams
The creator of Dilbert, whose comic strip about office absurdity became a global phenomenon and a lens on corporate culture.
1957–2026 (age 69)·American cartoonist and author·Birthday: June 8·Baby Boomers
Biography
Scott Adams transformed the soul-crushing banality of corporate life into a daily source of laughter for millions. A former bank teller and Pacific Bell employee, he channeled his firsthand experience with bureaucratic folly into Dilbert, a comic strip launched in 1989. With its hapless engineer protagonist, power-mad boss Dogbert, and cynical rodent Catbert, the strip became a cathartic outlet for office workers everywhere, syndicated in thousands of newspapers. Adams parlayed this success into bestselling business and self-help books like 'The Dilbert Principle', which humorously dissected management failures. In later years, his public persona shifted dramatically towards political commentary, where his provocative statements and embrace of controversial theories sparked significant backlash and led to the widespread cancellation of his strip by newspapers, marking a turbulent end to a defining cultural artifact of the modern workplace.
Baby Boomers
1946–1964
The largest generation in history at the time. Shaped by postwar prosperity, the Vietnam War, the sexual revolution, and Watergate. They questioned every institution their parents built — then ran them.
Scott was born in 1957, placing them squarely in the Baby Boomers. The events that shaped this generation — postwar prosperity, civil rights, Vietnam, and the counterculture — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Scott Was Born
The biggest hits of 1957
#1 Movie
The Bridge on the River Kwai
Best Picture
The Bridge on the River Kwai
#1 TV Show
Gunsmoke
Scott's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1957Born
Sputnik launches the Space Age
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $10,550Min wage: $1.00/hrPresident: Dwight D. Eisenhower"All Shook Up" — Elvis PresleyBest Picture: The Bridge on the River Kwai
1962Started school
Cuban Missile Crisis brings the world to the brink
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $12,800Min wage: $1.15/hrPresident: John F. Kennedy"Stranger on the Shore" — Acker BilkBest Picture: Lawrence of Arabia
1970Became a teenager
First Earth Day; The Beatles break up
Gas: $0.36/galHome: $17,000Min wage: $1.60/hrPresident: Richard Nixon"Bridge over Troubled Water" — Simon & GarfunkelBest Picture: Patton
1973Could drive
US withdraws from Vietnam; Roe v. Wade decided
Gas: $0.39/galHome: $22,100Min wage: $1.60/hrPresident: Richard Nixon"Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree" — Tony Orlando & DawnBest Picture: The Sting
1975Could vote
Fall of Saigon ends the Vietnam War
Gas: $0.57/galHome: $27,600Min wage: $2.10/hrPresident: Gerald Ford"Love Will Keep Us Together" — Captain & TennilleBest Picture: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
1978Turned 21
First test-tube baby born
Gas: $0.63/galHome: $35,300Min wage: $2.65/hrPresident: Jimmy Carter"Shadow Dancing" — Andy GibbBest Picture: The Deer Hunter
1987Turned 30
Black Monday stock market crash
Gas: $0.90/galHome: $72,400Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"Walk Like an Egyptian" — The BanglesBest Picture: The Last Emperor
1997Turned 40
Princess Diana dies in Paris car crash; Harry Potter published
Gas: $1.23/galHome: $104,100Min wage: $5.15/hrPresident: Bill Clinton"Candle in the Wind 1997" — Elton JohnBest Picture: Titanic
2007Turned 50
iPhone released; Great Recession begins
Gas: $2.80/galHome: $172,600Min wage: $5.85/hrPresident: George W. Bush"Irreplaceable" — BeyonceBest Picture: No Country for Old Men
2017Turned 60
#MeToo movement; solar eclipse crosses the US
Gas: $2.42/galHome: $195,000Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Donald Trump"Shape of You" — Ed SheeranBest Picture: The Shape of Water
2026Died at 69
Gas: $3.91/galPresident: Donald Trump
Key Achievements
- Created the internationally syndicated 'Dilbert' comic strip, which at its peak ran in over 2,000 newspapers worldwide.
- Authored multiple bestselling non-fiction books, including 'The Dilbert Principle' and 'Dogbert's Top Secret Management Handbook'.
- Won the National Cartoonists Society's Reuben Award for Outstanding Cartoonist of the Year in 1997.
- The Dilbert brand expanded into animated TV series, merchandise, and a vast range of licensed products.
Did You Know?
He worked at Crocker National Bank and Pacific Bell for nearly a decade before Dilbert's success allowed him to cartoon full-time.
Adams is a trained hypnotist and has written about persuasion and influence.
He holds an MBA from the University of California, Berkeley.
The character Dilbert is named after a friend of Adams's from college.
“I have a theory that the truth never sounds like the truth.”
