Ron Baron Says Musk Bets Could Bring Far More Gains Over Time

Baron’s current gains and outlook

Stocktwits reports that Ron Baron, the founder of Baron Capital, has long backed Elon Musk through investments in Tesla Inc. and Space Exploration Technologies Corp. He said those bets have already generated about $30 billion for him, but he expects much larger returns in the years ahead. In an interview with CNBC, Baron said he thinks he could make hundreds of billions of dollars over the next decade, regardless of whether Tesla and SpaceX eventually combine.

Reaction to a possible Tesla-SpaceX combination

According to Stocktwits, Tesla shares rose more than 4% in Friday’s regular session, while SpaceX shares climbed nearly 9%. Baron said he was not concerned about whether a merger would happen. He said Musk would choose what is best for the companies and for operating efficiently. Baron declined to describe his private view of the possible deal, but said he would support Musk’s decision either way. He said, “Doesn't matter to me.”

Why Baron says he is staying invested

Stocktwits says Baron pointed to Tesla’s past stock performance as a reason not to try to time the market. He recalled holding on when Tesla traded between $200 and $300 because he did not want to miss another major rise. He said the stock later increased about 20 times and eventually reached gains of about 40 times from his original investment. Baron added that he thinks the investment could rise five times again over the next ten years.

Musk’s broader plans and Baron’s expectations

Beyond Tesla’s car business and robotaxi plans, Baron said he sees Musk’s work on energy infrastructure and space-based computing as potentially transformative. He argued that the U.S. needs much more power generation to compete with China and linked that need to Musk’s efforts involving solar energy and infrastructure beyond Earth. Baron said he is especially optimistic about data centers in space, and he suggested the technology may arrive sooner than many people think.

Timeline, comparison with Bezos, and market context

Stocktwits reports that Baron said people who expect space-based data centers to take ten years are wrong. He said he expects meaningful deployments in 2028, with larger expansion in the year or two after that. He compared Musk’s approach with Jeff Bezos’ longer timeline for space-based data centers, while noting that each billionaire has an incentive to promote his own vision. Baron also called the investment the most remarkable one of his career, saying he is 83 and has been investing for 56 years. Stocktwits said retail sentiment on the platform around Tesla was in the “extremely bearish” range at the time of writing. It also noted that TSLA was down 20% year to date, SPCX was down 10%, while the S&P 500 ETF was up 10% over the past 12 months and the Invesco QQQ Trust was up 7%.