Jim Bakker, co-founder of PTL Club, dies at 86 after rise and fall in televangelism

Jim Bakker, the televangelist who co-founded the PTL Club and rose to national prominence before a highly publicized fall from grace, has died at the age of 86.

Bakker became a prominent figure in American evangelical broadcasting after building the PTL Club television program with his then-wife, Tammy Faye. The pair established a large ministry and media presence that drew national attention.

Conviction and downfall

Bakker’s career was later engulfed by scandal. He was convicted of fraud and conspiracy and served time in prison, a development widely reported alongside accounts of a sex scandal that contributed to his public disgrace and the collapse of the PTL enterprise. The legal and personal controversies led to the loss of the ministry he and Tammy Faye had built.

Reports describe his story as one of both notable influence in televangelism and dramatic personal and professional collapse. After his conviction and incarceration, Bakker remained a figure associated with the rise and subsequent reckoning of televangelist culture in the United States.

Legacy and public memory

Bakker’s life drew attention for the scale of the ministry he co-founded and for the controversies that followed. Coverage of his death highlights both his role in creating a major television ministry and the legal and ethical failures that ended that operation. Accounts across news outlets note the central role of the PTL Club in his prominence and the later criminal convictions that overshadowed his earlier success.

Details about Bakker’s survivors, the circumstances of his death, or plans for memorials were not reported consistently across the initial accounts. News organizations reporting his death emphasized the arc of his career—from the creation of a high-profile evangelical media empire with Tammy Faye to the convictions and scandals that led to his fall from prominence.

Why it matters: Bakker’s life symbolizes broader debates about accountability, finance and influence in religious broadcasting. His death closes a chapter on one of the most visible examples of a televangelism rise-and-fall narrative in modern American religious life.