Simon Lichtenberg

Born Copenhagen, Denmark – 1967

Diploma in Chinese Language - 1988
Fudan University, Shanghai, China

Senior Executive Program for China (EMBA) - 2006
Harvard Business School, CEIBS & Tsinghua

Simon Lichtenberg is the Founder and CEO of Trayton Group based in China.

Simon Lichtenberg is an international businessman who was born in Copenhagen, Denmark in 1967. He completed his studies in Chinese language and Sinology from Fudan University in Shanghai in 1988. After finishing his eduation, Mr. Lichtenberg decided to go into business in China. He got involved in the timber business in 1992 and eventually formed his own company in 1993.

After some time in timber, Mr. Lichtenberg’s business branched out into furniture. He would buy supplies from various Chinese companies and then create the finished furniture products. The finished products are then sold internationally to companies like IKEA for a net profit of around 2.5 million dollars each year. His company has grown over the years to the strength it now sees. Beyond the furniture he sells with Trayton Furniture, Mr. Lichtenberg is also a franchisee of the Chinese BoConcept for Danish lifestyle furniture and has launched SofaPop in 2008.

While Mr. Lichtenberg has seen tremendous success since beginning his company, it has not been without challenges. While looking for suppliers of leather in China, he once dealt with Zhenjing Leather Factory. Unfortunately, his dealings with the company took a negative turn when he received faulty goods.

After a third party evaluated the leather and proclaimed that is was faulty, Mr. Lichtenberg decided to withhold payment and send the faulty leather back to the supplier. The result of his actions, which would not have created a problem in many western countries, was that the supplier took the non-payment issue to court.

Mr. Lichtenberg learned from the mistake of using an unknown supplier and losing the court case and has since continued to succeed in business. He is known for his continued strength in business and in 2006 was awarded the “Magnolia Silver Award” for the help he has provided in developing Shanghai.

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