Ron and Judy Baron
/SOURCE OF WEALTH: Financial management, founder of Baron Capital
FUNDING AREAS: Education, Health, Arts & Culture, Jewish Community
OVERVIEW: Ron and Judy Baron’s philanthropy touches on many major issues, including health, education, and the arts, but he most consistently gives to Jewish organizations. Their Baron Capital Foundation, which, according to available tax filings, awarded close to $1.7 million in grants in 2018 and just over $6.3 million from 2015 to 20018.
BACKGROUND: Ron Baron grew up in a Jewish family in Asbury Park, NJ, and attended Bucknell, and George Washington University Law School before landing a job in the U.S. Patent Office. In 1970, he made the move to Wall Street and worked at several brokerage firms as a securities analyst before founding his own firm in 1982. Today, Baron Capital Management's portfolio contains more than $25 billion in assets, affording Baron the ability to spend extravagantly on things such as high-profile corporate entertainment to lure new investors, or his East Hampton home, which he bought for $103 million in 2007--the most ever paid for a residential property at the time.
ISSUES:
EDUCATION: While Baron's alma mater Bucknell typically receives a grant of $5,000 per year and the University of Pennsylvania has received $425,000 in grants between 2008 and 2014. Duke University has also received six-figure grants, while other places like Columbia Business School, Emory Business School, and private schools like Horace Mann receive smaller gifts.
HEALTH: Weill Cornell Medical College receives strong support from Baron. The college received $1.2 million in funding from the foundation from 2017 to 2018. The Baron Capital Foundation has made nominal grants of $1,000 to places like the Lymphoma Research Foundation, the Genetic Disease Research Foundation, the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, and the Jupiter Medical Center.
JEWISH COMMUNITY: Grantees in this space include Birthright Israel Foundation, an organization that sponsors 10-day trips to Israel for young people, American Friends of the Israel Museum, and the UJA Federation of New York, for which Baron’s wife, Judy has served on the Board of Directors. From 2014 to 2017, the foundation awarded the UJA Federation of New York $750,000 in grants. It seems that organizations that promote American Jewish identity and ties to Israel receive the largest or most consistent gifts, including the National Museum of American Jewish History, the American Jewish Committee, and the Jewish Center of the Hamptons. Some, like the American Friends of the Hebrew University, have received multiple gifts in a single year.
ARTS & CULTURE: The Baron Capital Foundation supports the Metropolitan Opera, which received $450,000 in 2014 and a total of $950,000 from 2008 to 2014. Other grants have included $50,000 to the Big Apple Circus, $5,000 to the Alvin Ailey Dance Foundation, $2,500 to the Lincoln Center Theater, and, of course, numerous donations to Jewish culture organizations and museums.
OTHER CAUSES: There do not seem to be any limitations on what the Baron Capital Foundation will support, and it has donated to multiple veterans’ charities, the Milken Institute, which does policy research, and at least one organization that promotes Italian heritage.
LOOKING FORWARD: Baron Capital Management has seen a surge in growth in recent years--$7 billion worth from 2013-2014 alone. While one may expect some lag before a comparative increase is seen in its giving, it is not unreasonable to expect the foundation's annual grantmaking to increase to $2 million or more in the not-too-distant future. And though there have not been any indications of this yet, with Baron in his 70s, he may be starting to think more about what he is going to do with all the wealth he has accumulated.
CONTACT:
Ron Baron, Trustee, Baron Capital Foundation
767 5th Ave, 49th Floor, New York, NY 10153
(212) 583-2010
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