Jim Bakker, the U.S. televangelist who built a multimillion-dollar Christian broadcasting empire with his first wife, Tammy Faye, before becoming embroiled in sex and financial scandals, has died at the age of 86 on October 5, 2026.
In the 1970s and 1980s, Bakker and Tammy Faye built the PTL (Praise the Lord) ministry into a television empire centered on prosperity-oriented preaching, entertainment and aggressive fundraising. Their program reached as many as 13 million viewers, while PTL’s annual revenue climbed to roughly $129 million.
The Bakkers became celebrities as much for their emotional television style as for their preaching. Their ministry blended sermons, music, personal testimonies and frequent appeals for donations, helping turn Christian broadcasting into a hugely lucrative enterprise. At its height, PTL also operated Heritage USA, a sprawling Christian resort and theme park in South Carolina.
The empire began to collapse in 1987, when Bakker resigned from PTL amid revelations about a sexual encounter with Jessica Hahn, a former church secretary. He paid Hahn $265,000 in PTL funds in a deal intended to keep the matter confidential.
The scandal was followed by revelations about PTL’s finances. In 1989, Bakker was convicted on 24 federal counts of fraud and conspiracy for defrauding supporters through the ministry’s fundraising schemes. He was initially sentenced to 45 years in prison, though the sentence was later reduced. He ultimately served about five years and was released in 1994.
Tammy Faye, who was never charged in the fraud case, divorced Bakker in 1992.
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