The Elon Story, Episode 4: and PayPal 1999: he took his Zip2 money and co-founded one of the first federally insured online banks. Over 200,000 customers joined in its first months. 2000: merged with its rival Confinity, which ran a money-transfer service called PayPal. 2002: eBay bought PayPal for $1.5 billion. Elon Musk, the largest shareholder, got about $176 million, and bet it on rockets and electric cars. In 2017 he bought back the domain. The letter X never left him. Comic made by my AI, Grok Bot.

THE BLOCK: Ripple filed its comment letter on the SEC's proposed Regulation Crypto Assets, which seeks to exempt certain digital asset offerings from full SEC securities registration. "Ripple fully supports the Commission's efforts to provide a regulatory framework for crypto assets, and urges the Commission to adopt the Proposal in a final rule," the letter said. Although the official comment period for the SEC's proposal closes on Oct. 20, the commission will continue accepting public feedback after the deadline, according to journalist Eleanor Terrett.

The "AI Evaluator Forum" just published an open letter that David Sacks is calling "Trust & Safety 2.0." 100+ researchers are calling on every frontier AI company to embed independent third-party evaluators inside their labs with access equivalent to senior employees, protection from retaliation, and direct lines to company boards. The letter dropped the same day as Newsom's executive order calling for the same thing.

The Mongols reportedly killed the last Abbasid Caliph of Baghdad, al-Musta'sim, by wrapping him in a carpet and having horses trample him instead of directly shedding his blood. The method was supposedly chosen because royal blood was considered sacred. This is a perfect example of the ridiculousness of religious and/or traditionalist dogma. Ignore the spirit of its law by exploiting the letter of that law.

In the Q2 2026 Baron Small Cap Fund quarterly letter, Portfolio Manager Cliff Greenberg explores how our research-intensive process helps us identify high-quality, well-managed businesses. Our work ahead of the IPO of Blackstone Digital Infrastructure Trust offers one example. The research team spent considerable time with management, examining the depth of its team, the quality of the identified pipeline, and the clarity of its long-term vision. This research gave us a deeper understanding of what we believe makes for a compelling opportunity. As Cliff explains in the letter, the lack of large-scale capital dedicated to acquiring stabilized data center assets has left a significant volume of institutional-quality assets available at attractive prices with limited competition. Learn more about this investment and other recent activity here: -- Investors should consider the investment objectives, risks, and charges and expenses of the investment carefully before investing. The prospectus and summary prospectuses contain this and other information about the Funds. You may obtain them from the Funds’ distributor, Baron Capital, Inc, by calling 1-800-99-BARON or visiting Please read carefully before investing. Historical performance was impacted by gains from IPOs. There is no guarantee that these results can be repeated or the level of IPO participation will be the same in the future. Risks: Specific risks associated with investing in smaller companies include that the securities may be thinly traded and more difficult to sell during market downturns. Even though the Fund is diversified, it may establish significant positions where the Adviser has the greatest conviction. This could increase volatility of the Fund’s returns. The discussion of market trends is not intended as advice to any person regarding the advisability of investing in any particular security. The views expressed in this post reflect those of the respective writer. Some of our comments are based on management expectations and are considered “forward-looking statements.” Actual future results, however, may prove to be different from our expectations. Our views are a reflection of our best judgment at the time and are subject to change at any time based on market and other conditions and Baron has no obligation to update them. Portfolio holdings as a percentage of net assets as of June 30, 2026 for securities mentioned are as follows: Blackstone Digital Infrastructure Trust Inc. - Baron Small Cap Fund (1.2%). The Top 10 Holdings for Baron Small Cap Fund: Vertiv Holdings Co (7.6%), Red Rock Resorts, Inc. (5.1%), Kinsale Capital Group, Inc. (4.1%), SiteOne Landscape Supply, Inc. (3.7%), JBT Marel Corporation (3.4%), TransDigm Group Incorporated (3.3%), Cognex Corporation (3.2%), Guidewire Software, Inc. (3.0%), Liberty Media Corporation - Liberty Formula One (2.7%), The Baldwin Insurance Group, Inc. (2.5%). Portfolio holdings are subject to change. Current and future portfolio holdings are subject to risk. Investment Products: NOT FDIC INSURED | MAY LOSE VALUE | NOT BANK GUARANTEED BAMCO, Inc. is an investment adviser registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Baron Capital, Inc. is a broker-dealer registered with the SEC and member of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. (FINRA). ©2026 Baron Capital. All rights reserved.

PSA: The D.C. City Council sent letters to 10 governors whose National Guard members are serving in D.C., demanding that these brave men and women be removed from our nation's capital. This Department of Justice will not stand for these politically motivated demands. We will continue standing with @POTUS and the Make D.C. Safe and Beautiful Task Force to deliver historic results for the community—and for visitors from across the country and around the world to enjoy. Read the letter to @councilofdc from Assistant Attorney General Colin McDonald below ⬇️

BREAKING: The prime ministers of 22 out of 27 EU member states have written a joint letter to the EU, demanding an emergency summit over the invasion of illegal migrants in Ceuta. They are outraged by the recent ruling of the Spanish Supreme Court: 🇮🇹 Italy 🇩🇪 Germany 🇩🇰 Denmark 🇫🇮 Finland 🇸🇪 Sweden 🇦🇹 Austria 🇧🇪 Belgium 🇳🇱 Netherlands 🇧🇬 Bulgaria 🇨🇾 Cyprus 🇸🇮 Slovenia 🇭🇷 Croatia 🇨🇿 Czechia 🇸🇰 Slovakia 🇪🇪 Estonia 🇱🇻 Latvia 🇱🇹 Lithuania 🇫🇮 Finland 🇬🇷 Greece 🇭🇺 Hungary 🇵🇱 Poland 🇷🇴 Romania France, Ireland and Portugal were the only larger EU states that didn’t sign the letter.