Jim Bakker Has Died at 86 — But His Rise, Fall and $158 Million Scandal Still Stun People Today

His second wife, Lori Bakker, announced that he died Monday. A cause of death was not immediately disclosed. AP News

For millions of Americans who watched television in the 1970s and 1980s, Bakker was once nearly impossible to avoid.

Alongside his then-wife Tammy Faye, he built The PTL Club into a Christian broadcasting empire that reached millions of homes, generated enormous sums of money and eventually expanded into a sprawling religious theme park.

Then it all collapsed.

And the scandal that followed became one of the defining televangelist controversies of the era. Reuters

From small-time preacher to television phenomenon

Bakker began as a traveling preacher after meeting Tammy Faye at North Central Bible College in Minnesota.

The pair married in 1961 and began touring churches and revival meetings.

Their television career took off after they joined Pat Robertson's Christian Broadcasting Network, where Bakker eventually hosted The 700 Club.

In 1974, Jim and Tammy Faye launched The PTL Club, short for “Praise the Lord.”

By the mid-1980s, the show was one of the biggest religious programs in America.

At its peak, the ministry reached as many as 13 million viewers and brought in roughly $129 million a year, according to Reuters. Reuters

Then came Heritage USA

The Bakkers didn't stop with television.

They also built Heritage USA, a huge Christian resort and theme park in Fort Mill, South Carolina.

The complex covered thousands of acres and included hotels, restaurants, shops, attractions and religious facilities.

For a time, the operation became one of the most visible symbols of the televangelist boom.

But prosecutors later said some of the fundraising tied to the resort involved promises that could not be fulfilled.

That would become central to Bakker's downfall. AP News

The scandal that brought everything crashing down

Bakker resigned from the PTL ministry in 1987 after revelations involving a sexual encounter with church secretary Jessica Hahn and a $265,000 payment made using ministry funds to keep the matter quiet.

The controversy rapidly expanded beyond the sex scandal.

Federal prosecutors began investigating PTL's finances and eventually accused Bakker of defrauding followers through a hotel-vacation scheme connected to Heritage USA. Reuters

Prosecutors said followers were encouraged to pay for lifetime annual vacation benefits that the ministry could not realistically provide.

And the dollar amount alleged was enormous.

Prosecutors said followers were defrauded out of $158 million

In 1989, Bakker was convicted on all 24 fraud and conspiracy counts brought against him.

Prosecutors said the scheme involved roughly $158 million collected from followers through promises connected to resort stays.

They also alleged that millions of dollars were diverted to support an extravagant lifestyle that included luxury homes, expensive cars, jewelry and other perks. Reuters

Bakker was initially sentenced to 45 years in prison.

That sentence was later reduced.

He ultimately served about four and a half years before being released in 1994. The Guardian

Tammy Faye stood by him — until she didn't

Tammy Faye Bakker was not charged in the fraud case.

She remained publicly supportive through much of the scandal and even sang to reporters after her husband's conviction.

But the marriage did not survive his imprisonment.

Tammy Faye divorced Bakker in 1992 and later remarried.

She died of cancer in 2007. Reuters

Their relationship and spectacular fall from fame were later dramatized in the 2021 film The Eyes of Tammy Faye.

The story introduced a younger generation to a scandal that had dominated American television decades earlier. AP News

Bakker eventually returned to television

After leaving prison, Bakker attempted to rebuild his life and public ministry.

He later said he had rejected parts of the prosperity gospel he once promoted and published a book titled I Was Wrong.

In 1998, he married Lori Beth Graham.

Five years later, the couple launched The Jim Bakker Show, marking his return to Christian television. Reuters

The new show was produced near Branson, Missouri, and Bakker remained active in religious broadcasting for years.

But controversy followed him again.

Another controversy emerged during the pandemic

In 2020, Bakker faced criticism for promoting a silver-based health product that was falsely marketed as a treatment for COVID-19.

Regulators and state authorities took action over the claims, which were unsupported.

The episode renewed criticism that Bakker continued using religious broadcasting to market questionable products to loyal viewers. AP News

He also suffered a stroke in 2020.

Even after that, he remained associated with his television ministry.

His legacy remains deeply divided

To supporters, Jim Bakker was a pioneer who helped transform Christian television into a major national industry.

To critics, his career became a symbol of excess, manipulation and the dangers of mixing religion, celebrity and money.

Both descriptions are part of his story.

He helped build one of the largest televangelist empires in the United States.

He also became one of its most famous cautionary tales.

That contrast is why his name still resonates with Americans who remember the heyday of The PTL Club.

One of television's most dramatic rises and falls

Bakker's life had nearly every ingredient of a made-for-TV story.

A young preacher becomes a national celebrity.

He and his wife build a media empire.

A theme park follows.

Millions of dollars pour in.

Then a sex scandal breaks.

A financial investigation follows.

The empire collapses.

And the man who once preached to millions ends up in federal prison.

Bakker later returned to television and spent decades trying to rebuild his ministry, but the events of the 1980s never stopped defining his public image.

Now, with his death at 86, one of the most controversial chapters in American religious television has come to an end.