Ron Baron, founder of Baron Capital, is a Tesla shareholder and a big believer in Elon Musk’s vision of the future. Baron believes Tesla can grow sales to $1 trillion in 12 years.
Anjali Sundaram | CNBC
Billionaire investor Ron Baron told CNBC on Monday he believes Tesla’s bitcoin purchase is “not surprising,” but the longtime shareholder in the electric auto maker cautioned that he wants explore the decision-making process further before making a judgement.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk “has been commenting favorably about bitcoin for a while so the announcement regarding bitcoin [is] not surprising,” Baron told “Squawk Box” co-host Becky Quick.
Baron has been bullish on Tesla for years and his eponymous investment firm, Baron Capital, holds a significant stake in the electric vehicle maker.
“I’m sure a lot of thought went into the bitcoin purchase by Tesla and I look forward to learning the rationale,” Baron added in his remarks to Quick, who read them during the broadcast.
Tesla announced in a filing Monday with the Securities and Exchange Commission it has bought $1.5 billion worth of bitcoin and plans to begin accepting the cryptocurrency has payment for its products.
The price of bitcoin soared to a new record high Monday after Tesla’s purchase became public, crossing above $44,000 per coin at one point.
Shares of Tesla were higher by more than 2.5% in premarket trading. The stock has been on a tear in the past 12 months, rising nearly 470% as of Friday’s closing price of $852.23.