Top Exec Abandons $3B Business to Join Priesthood
The makeup mogul gave away millions to charity and pivoted to religion after leading what he now calls a “perverse life.”
E.L.F. Cosmetics co-founder Scott-Vincent Borba says he is happier than ever after forsaking the beauty industry—and his sizable fortune—for more godly pursuits.
Borba, 53, gave away millions of dollars to charity in 2019 and dedicated himself to the Catholic ministry, enrolling as a seminarian for the Diocese of Fresno.
In less than 10 days, Borba’s longtime dream will come true.
The former beauty mogul told ABC 7 that he is set to be ordained as a Catholic priest by the Diocese on May 23.
Borba said that he had felt a calling toward religion “ever since I can remember.”
Roman Catholic Diocese of Fresno/Facebook
In 2004, Borba, then an esthetician and model, co-founded the beauty company with Joseph Shamah.
E.L.F. Cosmetics became a cult-favorite brand among consumers, particularly budget-conscious beauty fans, and was stocked by major retailers such as Target, Walmart, and Ulta Beauty.
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The company reached a valuation in the billions, altering the course of his life and, according to Borba, changing his character, too.
“I was a poster boy for luxury living. I was not in any which way humble. I was very prideful,” he said.
Esthetician and CEO of Borba Scott-Vincent Borba poses at the launch of his book, "Skintervention," on January 13, 2011, in Los Angeles.
Valerie Macon/Getty Images
He sought a major lifestyle change after he began to feel that a moral rot had permeated his existence. In 2019, he said in an interview that, prior to joining the Catholic Church, he had led a “perverse life.”
“We ran around with the likes of Paris Hilton, and partying with Kardashians and just doing up the Hollywood life,” Borba told ABC 7.
“We ran around with the likes of Paris Hilton, and partying with Kardashians and just doing up the Hollywood life,” Borba recalled. Here, Kim Kardashian, Caroline D'Amore, and Paris Hilton pose at a party in 2006.
John Sciulli/WireImage
Borba said he was always drawn to religion but ignored its callings in favor of his company’s runaway success. But after a “sudden loss of joy” in his forties, the voice in his head became more persuasive.
“I asked our Lord to help me be the man that he created me to be. And upon that instance, I had this massive flood of love and mercy that came into my life,” he said. “It was a very mystical experience.”
It was then that the entrepreneur gave away all of his money and embarked on an experience known to Catholics as “formation.” This process, according to the Diocese of Fresno, is “a mixture of practical experience in parish life and studying in a seminary.”
It also required Borba to live his days in a radically different way from the “vapid” lifestyle he was used to.
“Being around Scott, you can see the genuine happiness and fulfillment he now carries and gives to others,” a leader in the Diocese of Fresno, Chandler Marquez, said in an interview with KTVU.
Fresno Bee/Tribune News Service via Getty I
“I have a few bits of clothes and a few pairs of shoes. And my life has been culled down to the bare minimum,” the former mogul said, adding that he lives “in a little tiny room with... nothing in it.”
The joy he had lost has since returned, he said.
“Once I started to reorient myself, recalibrate myself with God’s help to focus to Him, the joy started coming,” he explained. “I have never been happier in my life.”
After Borba is ordained, he plans to return to his childhood stomping grounds in the San Joaquin Valley, where he will be assigned as an associate pastor to a parish.
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