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Jim Bakker, the US televangelist who built a multimillion-dollar Christian media empire with his first wife Tammy Faye but later faced disgrace due to a sex scandal and fraud convictions, died at age 86 on Monday. Bakker founded The PTL Club in 1974 which attracted up to 13 million viewers daily at its peak. He was convicted of mail and wire fraud related to their Christian theme park and served over four years in prison before rebuilding his ministry with his second wife Lori Bakker starting in 2003.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-06,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
Jim Bakker, a controversial televangelist who built a significant Christian television empire with his ex-wife Tammy Faye Bakker, died on Monday at the age of 86. His second wife, Lori Bakker, announced his death and mourned him as her husband and best friend. Bakker rose to fame in the 1970s through The PTL Club, a popular Christian television show that drew up to 13 million viewers at its peak. However, scandal struck when he was convicted of fraud and conspiracy for misusing $400 million in ministry funds and later implicated in a sex scandal involving the payment of $279,000 hush money to a church secretary who alleged sexual assault. Bakker spent about five years in prison before being released. Despite his fall from grace, he revived his career post-incarceration with new television shows like "The Jim Bakker Show" and continued as a prominent figure among supporters of former US President Donald Trump until recently living near Branson, Missouri.
Written for “Jim Bakker Dies At 86” on 2026-10-06,
grounded in this article and the 14 other(s) covering the same event.
- Published
US televangelist Jim Bakker, who built a multimillion-dollar media empire before being jailed for fraud and conspiracy, has died aged 86.
asserted
who → publish → fraud
Bakker and his then-wife Tammy Faye founded a Christian television programme called The PTL Club in 1974, which at its peak attracted 13 million viewers per day.
asserted
which → found → day
The 86-year-old's death was announced on Monday by his second wife Lori Bakker, who described him as "a pioneer of Christian television".
asserted
who → announce → television
By the late 80s, Bakker and Tammy Faye's empire began to fall apart after he became embroiled in a sex scandal and later convicted of mail and wire fraud.
asserted
he → begin → fraud
Tammy Faye, who divorced him in 1992, was never charged.
asserted
who → divorce → 1992
Bakker remarried in 1998, and alongside second wife Lori launched a new TV ministry in 2003.
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Bakker → remarry → 2003
Lori Bakker described her late husband as "my best friend, and the man I was honoured to walk beside through so many seasons of life and ministry".
asserted
I → describe → life
She did not specify the cause of death.
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She → specify → death
However, Bakker's first program The PTL Club - short for 'Praise the Lord' or 'People That Love' - was what cemented his fame with his first wife Tammy Faye.
asserted
what → praise → wife
The couple built their empire with 2,000 employees and a 2,300-acre (930-hectare) Heritage USA theme park complex in Fort Mill, South Carolina.
asserted
couple → build → Mill
The Bakkers had a famously opulent lifestyle, owning a private jet, multiple homes, luxury cars, jewellery and even an air-conditioned dog house.
asserted
Bakkers → have → jet
In 1987, Bakker resigned from the PTL ministry after revelations of a 1980 sexual encounter with a former church secretary Jessica Hahn.
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Bakker → resign → secretary
It later emerged Hanhn received a $265,000 payoff with ministry funds, resulting in Bakker being defrocked of his ministerial credentials and right to perform religious duties.
asserted
Bakker → emerge → duties
Hahn also accused Bakker of sexual assault, though the evangelist denied this, claiming the encounter had been consensual.
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encounter → accuse → this
Bakker was then convicted in 1989 of 24 counts of mail and wire fraud and conspiracy in a scheme involving their Christian theme park, and served more than four years in prison.
asserted
Bakker → convict → prison
Tammy Faye stayed with her husband throughout the trial but divorced him in 1992 while he was in prison.
asserted
he → stay → prison
She died of cancer in 2007.
asserted
She → die → 2007
Following Bakker's release from prison in 1994, he wrote a book titled I Was Wrong and married his second wife Lori in 1998.
asserted
I → follow → 1998
The couple began a TV ministry together in 2003 and in 2008 they began taping The Jim Bakker Show.
asserted
they → begin → Show
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