Jim Bakker, the polarizing American televangelist who built a sprawling Christian media empire before its dramatic collapse amid fraud convictions and public scandal, has died at the age of 86. His second wife, Lori Bakker, confirmed the news in a statement Monday, but did not disclose a cause of death.
Bakker first rose to prominence in 1974 alongside his first wife, Tammy Faye Messner, when the pair founded *The PTL Club* – a Christian television program whose name stood for both “Praise the Lord” and “People That Love”. At the height of its popularity, the daily show drew more than 13 million viewers across the United States, turning Bakker and Tammy Faye into household names in evangelical circles.
Building on the show’s success, the couple expanded their media enterprise into a multi-million dollar empire. They constructed Heritage USA, a sprawling 2,300-acre Christian theme park complex in Fort Mill, South Carolina, that employed more than 2,000 workers. The pair embraced a notoriously lavish lifestyle, counting a private jet, multiple luxury residences, high-end vehicles, expensive jewelry, and even an air-conditioned dog house among their assets.
By the late 1980s, however, the empire began to unravel. In 1987, a decade-old sexual encounter between Bakker and former church secretary Jessica Hahn came to light, prompting Bakker’s immediate resignation from the PTL ministry. Hahn later accused Bakker of sexual assault, a claim he repeatedly denied, insisting the encounter had been consensual. Further investigation revealed that Hahn had been paid $265,000 in hush money using PTL ministry funds, leading the Assemblies of God to defrock Bakker, revoking his formal ministerial credentials.
In 1989, Bakker was found guilty on 24 counts of mail fraud, wire fraud, and conspiracy connected to deceptive fundraising for the Heritage USA theme park. He served more than four years in federal prison for his crimes. Though Tammy Faye stood by Bakker throughout his trial, she filed for divorce in 1992 while he was still incarcerated; she never faced any criminal charges connected to the PTL scandal, and died of cancer in 2007.
After his release from prison in 1994, Bakker expressed public remorse for his actions, publishing a memoir titled *I Was Wrong* that detailed his rise, fall, and time behind bars. He rebuilt his personal and professional life in the following years, marrying Lori Bakker in 1998, and the pair launched a new television ministry in 2003. Five years later, they began production on *The Jim Bakker Show*, which became the anchor of his second act in evangelical broadcasting.
In her statement announcing Bakker’s death, Lori Bakker remembered her late husband as a trailblazer for Christian television. “He was my best friend, and the man I was honoured to walk beside through so many seasons of life and ministry,” she wrote. For many American evangelicals and observers of 20th-century religious media, Bakker leaves behind a complicated legacy: a figure who revolutionized Christian broadcasting while bringing disgrace to the movement through his financial and personal misconduct.