Televangelist Jim Bakker dies at age 86 after fraud conviction
World · 6 October 2026
Written by AI from multiple news reports
Jim Bakker, a famous American televangelist, died on 5 October 2026. He was 86 years old.
Bakker became well known in the 1970s and 1980s through his TV programme, The PTL Club, which he hosted with his wife Tammy Faye. Together they built a religious business worth $125 million, including a Christian theme park in South Carolina called Heritage USA.
In 1987, a sex scandal forced Bakker to leave PTL. The following year, he was charged with fraud for selling more hotel memberships than actually existed and keeping over $3 million for himself. A court convicted him in 1989 and sent him to prison. He was released in 1994.