Opening Bell: 6.15.16

Andrew Caspersen, Charged in $40 Million Fraud, Had Gambling Addiction, Lawyer Says (Dealbook)
Federal prosecutors claim that Andrew Caspersen ran a Ponzi-like scheme to defraud friends, family and a hedge fund foundation of nearly $40 million over an 18-month period. But on Tuesday, Mr. Caspersen’s lawyer contended that his client, a former Wall Street executive with an Ivy League pedigree, was the victim of an uncontrollable gambling addiction that drove him for more than a decade. So gripping was Mr. Caspersen’s addiction, the lawyer said, that he checked his phone throughout the day for updates on the stock market’s direction and his “all in” bearish bets that ran into tens of millions of dollars.

Andreessen Sees Big Exits for Tech Startups in Next Wave (Bloomberg)
Andreessen, the co-founder of venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, expects many more M&A deals this year and a stream of IPOs in 2017 and 2018. The pendulum has swung too far away from the public markets in recent years and closely held companies have remained private far longer than the historical norm, he said Tuesday at the Bloomberg Technology Conference in San Francisco.

Dropbox CEO Pushes Toward Profitability in a ‘Post-Unicorn Era’ (Bloomberg)
Drew Houston, Dropbox's chief executive officer, now declares that we're "entering the post-unicorn era." Unicorn startups, those valued at $1 billion or more, will need to focus on creating healthier businesses as venture capital and other sources of private-market funds dry up, he said Tuesday onstage at the Bloomberg Technology Conference in San Francisco.

Russian billionaire gets approval to build mega-mansion (NYP)
Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich has had plans for his dream Upper East Side mega-mansion approved by the Landmarks Preservation Commission. The plan — which will combine the $78 million properties at 11, 13 and 15 E. 75th St. — was denied back in April. But on Tuesday, architects Stephen Wang and Herzog & de Meuron had their revisions approved, reports real estate website 6sqft.com. The Chelsea FC soccer team owner’s 18,000-square-foot future home will have a stunning rear facade made entirely out of glass and bronze, a central atrium, a hair salon and a dual-height “art room,” plus sauna, kitchen on the roof and pool that almost spans the width of the three townhouses.

Sean Penn was going to name his son Steak (NYDN)
Meat-loving actor Sean Penn almost cooked up a bizarre name for his son Hopper before his wife Robin Wright skewered the idea. "My dad wanted to name me Steak, the food, because he loves it so much," Hopper told Interview magazine. "But my mom was never going to go for it."

Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi says testing its own digital currency (Reuters)
Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ confirmed on Tuesday it is conducting experiments on a digital currency utilizing the technology behind the virtual currency bitcoin. The statement came following a report from the Asahi Shimbun newspaper last week that the bank will soon issue a virtual currency that will be available next year.

Fed expected to hold rates steady as Brexit vote clouds outlook (Reuters)
The Federal Reserve is expected to keep interest rates unchanged on Wednesday and signal if it still plans to raise rates twice in 2016 amid concerns about a U.S. hiring slowdown and Britain's possible exit from the European Union.

Market Angst as U.K. Edges to Exit (WSJ)
“The fact that Brexit is now perceived as a possibility is a total game-changer, and it’s very difficult to estimate the macroeconomic impact,” said Franck Dixmier, global head of fixed income at Allianz Global Investors. The campaign over Britain’s June 23 referendum has hummed along in the background of most financial markets for months. It is now coming to the fore—and spreading across the continent. Price action in the European bond markets Tuesday echoed the patterns seen during the eurozone’s debt crisis in 2011 and 2012, when investors also contemplated the rupture of the European Union.

California Overtakes France to Become Sixth-Largest Economy (Bloomberg)
California has overtaken France as the world’s sixth-largest economy, fueled by strong growth and the U.S. dollar’s gains against foreign currencies, state data released Tuesday show. The most-populous U.S. state, with a gross domestic product of $2.5 trillion, has also eclipsed recession-plagued Brazil.

Former Argentine official arrested after throwing cash over monastery walls (Reuters)
A top public works official in Argentina's previous government was arrested on Tuesday while throwing what police called "an obscene amount of cash" over the walls of a monastery, intensifying questions about possible past corruption. Officers responded to a pre-dawn 911 call reporting a man tossing bag after bag into the Our Lady of Fatima Catholic monastery in the Buenos Aires suburb of General Rodriguez. Within minutes, officials said, former Deputy Public Works Minister Jose Lopez was in custody, where he remained on suspicion of money laundering.