Crouch died at his home in California on Saturday after a decade-long fight with degenerative heart disease, his grandson Brandon Crouch told The Associated Press.
"He was an incredible businessman, entrepreneur, visionary; he built something that impacted the world," he said.
Trinity Broadcast Network had reported that Crouch fell ill and was taken to a hospital in October while visiting the network's facility in Colleyville, Texas. He later returned to California for continued treatment of "heart and related health issues."
"We mourn Paul's passing and he will be greatly missed. But we know, as the old hymn reminds us, soon enough we will see him again in that great 'meeting in the air,"' the network said in a statement over the weekend.
Crouch began his broadcasting career while studying theology at Central Bible Institute and Seminary in his native Missouri by helping build the campus' radio station. He moved to California in the early 1960s to manage the movie and television unit of the Assemblies of God before founding Trinity Broadcast Network in 1973 with his wife, Jan.
They grew the network into an international Christian empire that beams prosperity gospel programming to every continent but Antarctica around the clock. The network is based in California and has 84 satellite channels and more than 18,000 television and cable affiliates as well as a Christian amusement park in Orlando, Florida.
The network, and its founders, have drawn controversy from former employees, as well as other Christian leaders for creating programming that promises if the faithful sacrifice for their belief, God will reward them with material wealth.
The ministry is registered as a non-profit and collects hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue and tax-free donations a year. Critics of the organization claim that Crouch and his wife Jan have used the money to live lavish lifestyles.
Last year, their granddaughter and her husband's uncle filed lawsuits alleging $50 million in financial improprieties at the network and detailed opulent spending.
Former employees of the television station told The New York Times that the Crouch family led lavish lifestyles. They owned several homes in Texas, California, and Florida, as well as two private jets worth $8 million and $49 million. They supposedly spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on their two dogs, according to the Times and other news reports.
The Crouches dismissed the allegations, and their attorney said the network's spending was in line with its mission to spread the gospel throughout the world.
