Veteran investor Ron Baron speaks to a crowded audience at the Met during the 2022 Baron Investment Conference.Despite a brutal year for the U.S. stock market so far, billionaire money manager Ron Baron and his many retiree investors were undeterred as they gathered for the Baron Investment Conference last Friday.
Baron, who is 79 and founded his firm four decades ago, has lived through plenty of bear markets. He said he sees “big opportunities” today, following the roughly 21% drop in the S&P 500 index. “A year ago, nothing was cheap—now it’s the opposite,” Baron said. “Stocks are dirt cheap on an absolute basis.”
A big reason for his rosy outlook is the firm’s big bet on Musk’s electric vehicle maker. The billionaire money manager first built his firm’s position in Tesla between 2014 and 2016, investing a total of $387 million, which has since generated billions of dollars in gains. Despite a 50% drop in Tesla shares in 2022, Baron remained convinced that his firm’s position will continue to pay off in the future: “If I could, I would buy more.