US televangelist Jim Bakker, disgraced from sex scandal and fraud, dies at 86

US televangelist Jim Bakker, once a prominent figure in Christian media, has passed away at the age of 86. Bakker and his late wife Tammy Faye co-founded The PTL Club in 1974, which gained popularity and reached 13 million viewers daily at its height. The couple later expanded their empire to include a theme park and a successful TV ministry.

However, their prosperity came to an abrupt halt in the late 1980s when Bakker was embroiled in a sex scandal and later convicted of mail and wire fraud. Tammy Faye, who divorced Bakker in 1992, was never charged. After his release from prison in 1994, Bakker remarried and launched a new TV ministry with his second wife, Lori Bakker.

Lori Bakker remembered her husband as "my best friend, and the man I was honoured to walk beside through so many seasons of life and ministry." She did not disclose the cause of death. Jim Bakker's success story is marked by his opulent lifestyle, which included a private jet, multiple homes, luxury cars, jewelry, and even an air-conditioned dog house.

The PTL Club, a program short for 'Praise the Lord' or 'People That Love', played a significant role in establishing Bakker's fame alongside his first wife Tammy Faye. The couple built an extensive team of 2,000 employees and a 2,300-acre (930-hectare) theme park complex in Fort Mill, South Carolina.