NEWSMAKER-Gautam Adani, indicted in US, is a controversial first-generation Indian tycoon

By Krishna N. Das and Munsif Vengattil

NEW DELHI, Nov 21 (Reuters) - Indian billionaire Gautam Adani, indicted in New York over a $265 million bribery scheme, is a first-generation tycoon whose phenomenal rise has been accompanied by a series of damaging controversies at home and abroad.

Asia's second-richest person, who narrowly escaped death in 2008 as one of many people stuck inside Mumbai's Taj Mahal Palace Hotel when gunmen went on a killing spree, faces a U.S. arrest warrant and criminal penalties over the fraud and bribery charges.

Adani's businesses, ranging from power and ports to sugar and soybeans, lost more than $150 billion in combined market value last year after U.S.-based short seller Hindenburg Research accused his eponymous group of using offshore tax havens improperly. The group, which recouped some of the losses and now has a combined valuation of $141 billion, denied all of the allegations.

Before shares in Adani Group companies tanked last year, the 62-year-old high school dropout had briefly become the world's wealthiest person after Tesla TSLA.O CEO Elon Musk. Adani is now the 25th richest person with a net worth of about $57.6 billion, according to Forbes.

While the group's coal and power projects and other deals have been questioned in countries such as Australia and Bangladesh, Indian opposition leaders have regularly used Adani to hit out at the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, alleging favouritism, including in giving Adani the contract to redevelop a massive slum in Mumbai.

Both sides have rejected the charges.

U.S. authorities said on Wednesday that Adani and seven other defendants had agreed to pay the bribes to Indian government officials to obtain supply contracts expected to yield $2 billion of profit over 20 years, and develop India's largest solar power plant project. Adani Group has not responded to Reuters' requests for comment on the charges.

Born on June 24, 1962 in Ahmedabad city in the western state of Gujarat - also Modi's home state - Adani dropped out of school at age 16 after completing the 10th grade.

He set up Adani Group in 1988, beginning with commodities trading. He came from a middle-class textile family to build his riches, unlike many other billionaires who inherit their wealth.

Married to dentist Priti Adani, he has two sons, Karan and Jeet, both of whom are involved in the company businesses, like many others in the family.

According to one person with direct knowledge of his dealings, he has a "very hands-on" style of running his empire, which he said he aims to pass on to the next generation in the family when he turns 70.

In interviews with local and foreign media, Adani has called himself a shy person and credited the rise of his popularity in part to the political attacks he has faced.

He has been quick to praise politicians too.

Soon after Donald Trump's victory in the U.S. election, Adani said on X that the U.S. president-elect was "the embodiment of unbreakable tenacity, unshakeable grit, relentless determination and the courage to stay true to his beliefs".

Congratulating Trump, Adani said last week his group would invest $10 billion in U.S. energy and infrastructure projects, without providing details other than the investment aimed to create 15,000 jobs.

(Reporting by Krishna N. Das and Munsif Vengattil; Editing by Jamie Freed)

((munsif.vengattil@thomsonreuters.com;))