Jim Bakker Dies At 86 After Televangelist’s Empire Collapsed Amid Scandal And Fraud

Jim Bakker, the US televangelist who built a multimillion-dollar Christian television empire with his first wife Tammy Faye Bakker, has died at 86. His rise to fame through The PTL Club was followed by a sex scandal, a major fraud conviction and years in prison before he rebuilt his career.

Who was Jim Bakker?

Jim Bakker was an American televangelist who rose to fame in the 1970s and 1980s alongside his first wife, Tammy Faye Bakker. Together, they built The PTL Club into a major Christian television ministry, with the programme reaching millions of viewers across the US at its peak.

The couple also created Heritage USA, a large Christian theme park and resort in South Carolina. Bakker became known for his fundraising-driven broadcasts and an increasingly lavish lifestyle, which later came under intense scrutiny.

His career collapsed after a sex scandal involving former church secretary Jessica Hahn and a subsequent investigation into PTL’s finances. Bakker was convicted of fraud in 1989 and spent four and a half years in prison before rebuilding his television career after his release.

The fraud scandal that brought down Jim Bakker’s empire

Bakker was later charged with wire fraud, mail fraud and conspiracy over the finances of his ministry. Prosecutors argued that followers had been charged for lifetime annual holidays at Heritage USA that could not be provided. He was convicted on all 24 counts following a six-week federal trial in 1989 and was initially sentenced to 45 years in prison. The sentence was later reduced, and Bakker spent four and a half years behind bars before being released on parole in 1994.

Tammy Faye, who had stood by him during the trial, divorced Bakker in 1992. She died of cancer in 2007.

Jim Bakker's death and later career

After prison, Bakker rejected the prosperity gospel he had previously promoted and published the book I Was Wrong. He married Lori Bakker in 1998, and the couple later returned to television with The Jim Bakker Show in 2003. Lori Bakker announced that her husband had died, describing him as a “pioneer of Christian television”. The cause and circumstances of his death were not disclosed.

Jim Bakker closed a career that moved from extraordinary television success to scandal, imprisonment and a later return to religious broadcasting.