(Bloomberg) -- Financier Carl Icahn, majority owner of Sands Hotel & Casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey, was approved for a New Jersey gaming license, the Atlantic City Press reported.

Icahn invested $65 million last year to take over the then- bankrupt casino. Sands is renovating an attached hotel and building a new player lounge and front desk for its best customers, the paper said. Last year he was granted a temporary license.

Icahn, who was attending a fundraiser, didn't attend the hearing, the paper said.

In addition to his 73 percent stake in the Sands, Icahn owns the Stratosphere on the Las Vegas Strip, among other casinos. He lost an earlier battle to take over the Claridge casino, adjacent to his Atlantic City property, to Park Place Entertainment Corp.