Scott Adams is best known as the creator of the Dilbert comic strip, the immensely popular comic creation launched in 1989. The strip is enjoyed daily by 150 million people in 1,900 newspapers, in 56 countries.
Adams has a unique track record of creating success in a variety of diverse businesses. The Dilbert comic strip was Adams’ first attempt at a comic strip. No other contemporary cartoonist has achieved as much popularity, or had as much impact on the consciousness of readers. Adams’ first attempt at writing a book, The Dilbert Principle, became a number one New York Times best seller and one of the top selling business books of all time. Over 10 million Dilbert books have been sold, including four business titles and twelve comic reprint collections. The Dilbert Zone web site, managed by United Media, was the first syndicated comic strip site on the web, and one of the first web sites to turn a profit. Adams’ vision of an advertiser-supported daily comic on the web became a model for other cartoonists who followed. His latest is I'm No Scientist, But I Think Feng Shui Is Part of the Answer: A Dilbert Book.
Adams was co-executive producer of the Dilbert animated television show on the UPN network, a solid hit that ran for two years. Working with United Media, Adams has guided the design of hundreds of licensed Dilbert products, from coffee mugs to dolls to computer games. Dilbert is one of the biggest character licensing phenomena of recent times.
Adams and a business partner opened a successful restaurant, Stacey’s Cafe, in 1998. It has become one of the most popular eateries in the Pleasanton, California area. Adams’ newest business venture, Scott Adams Foods, promises to be the biggest success yet. It all started with Adams’ search for tasty, high-nutrition food that fit the demands of his own 12 hour work days. When it became clear that no such food existed, Adams teamed up with food industry veteran Jack Parker to create a solution. The result is the DILBERITO?, a delicious, hand-held, microwaveable food with 100% Daily Value for 23 essential vitamins and minerals. Adams and Parker plan to redefine what people expect from food, raising the bar for the rest of the food industry, and contributing to the health of the world. They plan to make money, too.
Graduating from Hartwick College in 1979 with a B.A. in economics, Adams worked for more than eight years at Crocker National Bank in San Francisco. Going to school at night, Adams finished the M.B.A. program at the University of California, Berkeley and joined Pacific Bell in 1986, where he worked more than eight years until leaving to work on Dilbert full time.
Starting with his teen years, Adams’ jobs have included cow herder, sap gatherer, gardener, snow shoveler, dish washer, bus boy, hotel desk clerk, security guard, bank teller, computer programmer, budget manager, financial analyst, loan officer, product manager, project manager, lab technical support, cartoonist, author, public speaker, restauranteur and now CEO of Scott Adams Foods.