The millionaire beauty entrepreneur becoming a priest
A prominent beauty entrepreneur, known for building a multi‑million dollar cosmetics brand, has announced plans to pursue ordination as a priest. The decision follows a period of personal reflection and a desire to serve a spiritual community, according to statements from the entrepreneur. Industry insiders note that the move could influence the intersection of faith and business, potentially inspiring other high‑profile figures. The entrepreneur will begin seminary training later this year, with the goal of being ordained within the next few years.
5 months ago
The former co‑founder of e.l.f. Cosmetics, Scott Vincent Borba, is set to be ordained a Catholic priest for the Diocese of Fresno after a two‑decade career in the beauty industry and a period of personal reflection on his vocation1.
Scott Borba built his reputation as a model, actor, and beauty entrepreneur, co‑founding the globally recognized e.l.f. Cosmetics brand1.
He accumulated significant wealth while promoting products aimed at enhancing outward appearance1.
Borba recalls an early childhood experience in which his mother pointed to the altar and the priest’s robes “shimmered like glitter,” planting the seed of a priestly calling1.
He later described a prolonged inner struggle, noting that he “was living for myself” and idolized luxury before recognizing that external beauty could not satisfy deeper spiritual hunger1.
In interviews with Angelus News and ChurchPOP, Borba explained that a devotion to the Blessed Mother reinforced his vocation, leading him to feel “never happier” and “full of joy”1.
He has reportedly given away his personal wealth, assets, and even his current company in preparation for priestly life1.
Deacon Scott Borba is scheduled to be ordained a priest later this month (May 2026) for the Diocese of Fresno, marking the formal transition from beauty entrepreneur to clergy member1.
Examine the Catholic Church’s stance on laypersons entering priesthood
The Catholic Church’s stance is that “laypersons” (non-ordained baptized faithful) may be called to the priesthood, but not in the sense of self-selection or “conversion” of lay office into priestly power. Priesthood is conferred sacramentally through Holy Orders and is reserved to baptized males, with the Church requiring a discernment and formation process so that the bishop can judge suitability and proceed lawfully.
In Catholic theology, all baptized faithful share in Christ’s priesthood in a real but distinct way, often called the “common (or baptismal) priesthood.” The Church then also has the “ministerial (ordained) priesthood”—a hierarchy of bishops, priests, and deacons—needed for the Church’s sacramental and pastoral mission.
Pope Francis, for example, emphasizes that history shows different expressions of ministry, yet the distinction remains between “instituted (or lay) ministries” and “ordained” ministries: they are distinct, even while they are both rooted in Christ’s one priesthood.
So when a “layperson” becomes a priest, the core change is not that the person stops being baptized or that baptism is annulled; rather, the person receives the sacrament of Holy Orders, which gives the Church a specific ministerial role—“proper to certain members of the People of God.”
“Layperson” typically means a baptized faithful who is not ordained. The Church therefore recognizes that a baptized man, while living as a lay faithful for a time, can later be called to sacred ordination. This fits the Church’s basic framework: Holy Orders exists to continue Christ’s apostolic mission “until the end of time,” and that mission is not limited to a small hereditary class but is fulfilled through discerned vocations within the People of God.
At the same time, the Church strongly guards the sacramental boundary: in the sacramental realm, a lay person cannot replace what is distinctive of the priest, because the ordained priest acts in the Church with sacramental authority proper to Holy Orders.
The clearest canonical statement of validity is:
“A baptized male alone receives sacred ordination validly.”
This does not mean all baptized men automatically qualify; rather, it means that the Church does not ordain women, and only a baptized male can receive valid sacred ordination. The logic is explicitly connected to the Church’s faith about the ministerial priesthood as Christ’s gift, and the Church has “no authority to ordain women to the ministerial priesthood.”
The Catechism also describes Holy Orders as the sacrament by which Christ’s apostolic ministry continues in the Church, including the three degrees: episcopate, presbyterate, and diaconate.
The Church further insists that apostolic power is not a function that any community can manufacture:
“No community has…power to confer apostolic ministry, which is essentially bestowed by the Lord.”
This is why “entering the priesthood” is not a matter of becoming more religious, more trained, or more authorized by the community; it is a sacramental act that requires Christ’s institution, conveyed through the Church’s ordained ministry.
Even when the person has the fundamental sacramental qualification (baptized male), the Church regulates how ordination happens.
Canon law sets a minimum structure for moving toward priestly ordination:
Those to be promoted to the diaconate from the stage of being “aspiring to the presbyterate” can be promoted only after completing the “fifth year of the curriculum of philosophical and theological studies.”
It also requires a period of pastoral participation for those aspiring after diaconal ordination before priestly ordination.
Canon law places decisive responsibility on the bishop (or competent superior) to verify that the candidate is suitable and that the canonical process has been followed. For example:
This shows that the Church’s stance is not merely “any layman who wants it can become a priest,” but rather a structured discernment in which suitability is investigated according to law.
The Church’s theology of priesthood treats ministerial priesthood as necessary for the building up of the Body of Christ—not as a temporary arrangement decided by the community.
The International Theological Commission states:
“In the New Covenant there is no other priesthood than that of Christ… In the Church all the faithful are called to share in it. The hierarchical ministry, however, is necessary for the building up of the Body of Christ…”
Thus, priesthood is not a “promotion” of lay power; it is a divinely instituted sacramental means by which Christ’s ministry is continued.
While the Church allows laypersons to enter priesthood (when called and properly ordained), it also warns against two opposite distortions:
Pope John Paul II addresses this through the need to maintain “the essential difference between the priestly and lay vocations,” warning that obscuring that difference can lead to a “clericalizing of the laity” and “laicizing of the clergy.”
He also explains that lay people have a main focus in engaging the world, while the priest is ordained to pastor, teach, and lead sacramental prayer, with a grace and responsibility “above all to act in the sacraments in persona Christi.”
Pope Francis likewise stresses that lay ministeriality is rooted in baptism rather than ordination, and he cautions that lay ministries and offices must not become self-referential in a way that makes laypeople appear as “default priests.”
The Catholic Church’s stance can be summarized as follows:
The Church therefore treats “entering the priesthood” as a gift and sacramental commissioning rather than a lay initiative that could replace or blur the ordained ministry Christ has instituted.