Ron Baron Brushes Off Elon Musk/Tesla Valuation Concerns: 'We're Investors In People For The Long Term'

Investor Ron Baron, who is among the biggest Tesla Inc TSLA bulls and a key holder of the EV stock, sees Monday's selloff as a potential buying opportunity for investors who are long-term believers in Tesla's robotaxi story and CEO Elon Musk.

What Happened: Monday's selloff in the stock market could be a positive moment for value investors like Baron, who called stocks cheap.

Baron was quick to suggest that the stock market falling could be a move coming from President Donald Trump to intentionally drive down the economy and get rid of inflation.

"They're all intentional," Baron said in an interview with CNBC.

One stock falling significantly in recent weeks is Tesla, which could be related to questions on fundamentals and pressure on the company with Musk more politically involved.

The company faces boycotts and protests around the world and has seen sales decline significantly in many parts of the world.

Despite the pressure on Tesla, Baron said he remains confident in the company and Musk as the leader. "We're investors in people, for the long term."

Baron said he met Musk in 2010 and it took four years before he invested anything in the company. Between 2014 and 2016, Baron invested $400 million in Tesla, which turned into $6 or $7 billion. Baron also invested in SpaceX in 2017 and has seen that investment go up significantly in value.

The investor recalled a time he previously appeared on CNBC with Tesla at a $1.1 trillion valuation and said he expected to make four times that over the long term.

"I think we're going to make more than that now from these prices."

On his SpaceX investment, Baron said he thinks he can make 10 times the current valuation on the company.

During the interview, Baron was asked about fundamentals and what could happen over the next year to make things better for Tesla.

He reminded the CNBC anchors that he's a long-term investor and some investments take time.

"This is an inflection point right now."

Baron noted that Tesla has been able to cut prices to keep up with Chinese competitors in the country's highly competitive EV market.

"I don't understand how American car companies will survive except for Tesla."

He pointed out that fundamentals are changing with the push to robotaxis where Tesla will own the cars. Tesla could go from making a profit of $7,000 per car to making $30,000 to $50,000 profit per car per year under its robotaxi model.

Why It's Important: Baron's interview comes after Musk admitted that his time spent between running companies and helping Trump with the Department of Government Efficiency makes things difficult.

Baron said he wishes things were a bit different. "I would hope that he would be a little less visible, but he feels that this is the way he's going to get things done. He is more charged up about his business now than he's ever been."

Having appeared on CNBC in April 2024 when Tesla stock was trading at around $166, Baron predicted that Tesla stock would "go up huge" from that time.

The investor said Tesla's new lower cost vehicles and robotaxis were exciting catalysts at the time.

"Now. I mean now is the bottom," Baron said in April 2024.

TSLA Price Action: Tesla stock is up 0.9% on Tuesday versus a 52-week trading range of $138.80 to $488.54. Tesla stock is down 41.0% year-to-date in 2025 and up 25.8% over the last year.

Tesla stock is now trading below where it was when Trump won the 2024 election. Tesla stock closed at $251.44 on Nov. 5 and opened for trading at $284.67 on Nov. 6 after Trump’s victory was confirmed.

The stock is down over 50% from all-time highs set in December.

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