Report: Sheldon Adelson is new owner of Las Vegas Review-Journal

Roger Yu | USA TODAY

Casino industry legend Sheldon Adelson is the buyer of the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Fortune reports.

The Review-Journal was bought last week for $140 million and the newspaper's management refused to identify its new owner. Some have speculated that Adelson, chairman and CEO of Las Vegas Sands, may have been the buyer.

Last week, News + Media Capital Group LLC, which was recently incorporated in Delaware, paid cash to the paper's previous owner, New Media Investment Group, to take over the largest newspaper in Nevada, a key swing state in the upcoming presidential election. As the acquisition was wrapped up, the deal-makers came under fire for their lack of transparency regarding who controls News + Media.

Michael Schroeder, who’s been appointed to transact the Review-Journal's business through News + Media and is the only name that appears on its filing papers, has declined to identify the owner. Schroeder, who also runs The Bristol Press and The New Britain Herald in Connecticut, declined to comment on Fortune's report. Las Vegas Sands couldn't be reached for comment.

The Review-Journal ran a story Tuesday, citing critics who are calling for the paper's owner to be identified publicly. The report also detailed Schroeder's ties to Adelson through a media executive in Boston, Russel Pergament.

Pergament runs a venture capital in Massachusetts, NAN Holdings, that helped fund Jewish News Service, a news service covering Israel and Jewish news, the Review-Journal reported. JNS also has an exclusive distribution agreement with Israel Hayom, an Israeli newspaper owned by Adelson, according to the Review-Journal.

Adelson is an unabashed supporter of the Republican Party, backing GOP candidates with millions in funding and relishing the role of kingmaker. Hours before the Republican debate Tuesday, he met privately with Donald Trump at The Venetian, the Sands property that hosted the debate.