Jim Bakker Dies at 86, According to Lori Bakker
U.S. televangelist Jim Bakker, who built a broadcasting empire before a sex scandal, a fraud conviction, and a prison sentence in the 1980s, died on Monday, October 5, 2026, at the age of 86. His death was announced on social media by his second wife, Lori Bakker, though no cause of death was disclosed.
Rise and Fall of the PTL Club Network
During the 1970s and 1980s, Bakker and his first wife, Tammy Faye Bakker, established “The PTL Club” network, which stood for “Praise The Lord” and “People That Love.” Operating from Fort Mill, South Carolina, the ministry reached up to 13 million daily viewers and generated over $100 million in annual revenue. The operation funded Heritage USA, a 2,500-acre Christian theme park and residential resort complex. Bakker defended the enterprise’s immense wealth, stating: “Excess and success are close together. Anyone who is successful has got to be excessive.”
Bakker Faced Fraud Charges After PTL Ministry Collapsed
The ministry collapsed in March 1987 after Bakker admitted to a sexual encounter with church clerk Jessica Hahn and a payoff of over $250,000 using PTL funds to secure her silence. Hahn alleged she was drugged and raped, while Bakker argued the encounter was consensual. Following his resignation, pastor and broadcaster Jerry Falwell took over operations. In 1988, Bakker was indicted on mail fraud, wire fraud, and conspiracy charges. Investigators found that he sold lifetime memberships to a luxury hotel, though only one 500-room hotel was ever completed; most of the funds went to his company’s operating expenses, though he kept $3.4 million. Following a five-week trial in Charlotte, North Carolina, a federal jury convicted him on all 24 counts in 1989. Bakker was sentenced to 45 years in prison.
Prison Release, Return to Television, and Later Controversies
Bakker served nearly five years in prison before his release on parole in 1994, during which time Tammy Faye divorced him in 1992. Tammy Faye later married building contractor Roe Messner and died of colon cancer in 2007. After leaving prison, Bakker married his second wife, Lori Beth Graham, in 1998, and the couple launched “The Jim Bakker Show” in 2003, eventually taping the program at a 600-acre development called Morningside near Branson, Missouri. In 2020, Bakker suffered a mild stroke. That same year, he drew legal action from state and federal officials; Morningside Church Productions Inc. reached a $156,000 settlement with the state of Missouri in June 2021 after prosecutors filed a lawsuit alleging he falsely marketed a health supplement called Silver Solution as a cure for COVID-19. His son, Jay Bakker, a minister advocating progressive theology, released a public statement following his father’s death noting: “We had a very complicated relationship and he was also my father and a grandfather and I need to mourn in my own time.”
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