Sauer, a native of Amsterdam, has considered himself a Maoist in the past, having participated in Dutch left wing politics since his youth.

[2] Sauer worked with his business partner Annemarie van Gaal to introduce Cosmopolitan and Playboy to Russia, among other magazines through their publishing house 'Independent Media,' which was founded in 1992.

[2][3][4] Sauer founded The Moscow Times, the first Western-produced English language newspaper in Russia, as part of the new publishing house alongside the Vedomosti.

[5] in 2010 Sauer became one of the new owners of NRC Handelsblad, company which purchased his previous holding Het Gesprek.

He claimed that the paper could serve as a great medium for educating people abroad about underreported domestic subjects.