Scott Adams Net Worth

What was Scott Adams' Net Worth?

Scott Adams was an American comic author who had a net worth of $20 million at the time of his death in January 2026.

Scott Adams earned his fortune as the creator of the comic strip "Dilbert," a satirical chronicle of corporate life that became one of the most widely syndicated comics in the world. First launched in 1989, "Dilbert" drew directly from Adams' own frustrations as a white-collar employee and struck an immediate nerve with office workers. Within a decade, the strip was appearing in more than 2,000 newspapers across nearly 60 countries and was translated into 19 languages, with an estimated global readership in the hundreds of millions.

The success of "Dilbert" turned Adams into far more than a cartoonist. He became a bestselling business author, a licensing powerhouse, and a recognizable media personality. His empire expanded to include dozens of books, a prime-time animated television series, merchandise ranging from calendars to office toys, and even a short-lived food brand.

In later years, Adams reinvented himself yet again as a prolific blogger, podcaster, and political commentator, a pivot that brought him a new audience but ultimately overshadowed his legacy and cost him his newspaper distribution. He died at age 68 after a battle with metastatic prostate cancer.

Early Life

Scott Raymond Adams was born on June 8, 1957, in Windham, New York. He was the middle child of Paul Adams, a postal worker, and Virginia Adams, a real estate broker and assembly-line worker. Inspired by the "Peanuts" comic strip, Adams began drawing cartoons as a young child and won his first drawing contest at age 11. He graduated as valedictorian of Windham-Ashland-Jewett Central School in 1975 in a class of just 39 students.

Despite his early ambition to become a cartoonist, Adams pursued a more conventional path, earning a bachelor's degree in economics from Hartwick College in 1979. He later moved to California and completed an MBA at the University of California, Berkeley, in 1986.

Corporate Career and the Birth of Dilbert

After college, Adams worked at Crocker National Bank and later Pacific Bell, holding various technical and managerial roles. He has said that the monotony, inefficiency, and absurdity of corporate meetings provided endless material for his cartoons. While working full time, Adams woke up early each morning to draw, slowly developing what would become "Dilbert."

He pitched the strip to multiple publications, including Playboy and The New Yorker, without success. In 1989, United Media Syndicate agreed to distribute "Dilbert," initially placing it in just 35 newspapers. Adams continued working at Pacific Bell until 1995, drawing cartoons before and after his day job. His first royalty check from the strip totaled $368.62.

Dilbert's Explosion and Mainstream Success

"Dilbert" grew steadily throughout the early 1990s, expanding to 100 newspapers by 1991, 400 by 1994, and 800 by 1996. That year, Adams published "The Dilbert Principle," a business satire arguing that incompetent employees are systematically promoted into management. The book became a major bestseller and cemented his status as a workplace philosopher for the cubicle class.

By the late 1990s, "Dilbert" had become a cultural phenomenon. Adams won the National Cartoonists Society's Reuben Award in 1997 for Outstanding Cartoonist and Best Newspaper Comic Strip. From 1998 to 2000, an animated "Dilbert" television series aired on UPN and won a Primetime Emmy Award in 1999. By the year 2000, the strip was carried by more than 2,000 newspapers in 57 countries.

Merchandising, licensing deals, speaking engagements, and book sales generated millions of dollars annually. Dilbert-themed products flooded offices worldwide, and Adams became one of the wealthiest cartoonists of his generation.

Bob Riha, Jr./Getty Images

Books, Media, and Other Ventures

In addition to his "Dilbert" collections, Adams wrote numerous nonfiction books blending humor, persuasion theory, and self-help. He also authored two religion-themed works, "God's Debris" and "The Religion War." His media appearances included cameos on "Babylon 5" and "NewsRadio" and frequent guest spots on television panels and podcasts.

Adams also founded Scott Adams Food, Inc., a vegetarian food company best known for the Dilberito frozen burrito and Protein Chef products. The venture ultimately failed commercially but reflected his willingness to experiment outside publishing.

Political Commentary and Online Reinvention

Beginning in the mid-2010s, Adams gained new attention for his political commentary. In 2015, he wrote a series of blog posts predicting that Donald Trump had a 98% chance of winning the presidency, a claim that brought him widespread media exposure. He framed Trump's rise as a masterclass in persuasion rather than policy.

That audience followed him to his daily livestream and vlog, "Coffee with Scott Adams," which accumulated tens of millions of views across platforms. Adams became a vocal supporter of Trump, published "Win Bigly," and visited the White House in 2018. He later claimed that his political alignment severely damaged his licensing business and mainstream reputation.

Controversies and the End of Dilbert

Adams' online persona became increasingly controversial. Over the years, he made statements about women, Jews, COVID-19, and political violence that drew criticism. The breaking point came in February 2023, when comments he made on his YouTube show about Black Americans were widely condemned as racist.

In the aftermath, Andrews McMeel Universal terminated its syndication agreement, and hundreds of newspapers, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, and the USA Today network, dropped "Dilbert." Adams later attempted to revive the strip as a subscription product under the name "Dilbert Reborn," but the mainstream era of the comic had ended.

Personal Life

Adams lived with several chronic health conditions, including focal dystonia, which impaired his ability to draw for long periods, and spasmodic dysphonia, which affected his speech and required surgery in 2008.

He married Shelly Miles in 2006 and adopted her two children, Savannah and Justin. Justin died of a fentanyl overdose in 2018 at age 18. Adams and Miles divorced in 2014 but remained close. In 2020, Adams married model Kristina Basham, who had two children from a previous relationship.

Health and Death

In May 2025, Adams revealed that he had aggressive prostate cancer that had spread to his bones and that his prognosis was terminal. He spoke openly about his illness on his livestreams in the months leading up to his death. Scott Adams died on January 13, 2026, at his home in Pleasanton, California, at the age of 68.

Real Estate

At the height of his success, Adams owned multiple high-end homes in Northern California. In April 2005, he purchased a 1.35-acre property in Pleasanton for $1.6 million. After years of planning and neighborhood disputes, he built an 8,300-square-foot custom home with an adjoining tennis court constructed above an underground basketball court. The property remained his primary residence until his death and was estimated to be worth between $8 million and $10 million.

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