Simon Bamberger (February 27, 1845 – October 6, 1926) was a German-American entrepreneur and politician who served as the fourth governor of Utah (1917–1921) after it achieved statehood from territorial status in 1896.

He remained there until the Civil War ended in 1865, at which point he relocated to St. Louis, Missouri and established a garment manufacturing company with his brother Herman.

A short time later, an outbreak of smallpox resulted in a quarantine that forced the Union Pacific Railroad to bypass the town, so Bamberger moved on to Salt Lake itself, where he operated the Delmonico Hotel with a partner.

A major vein of silver was struck two years later, making Bamberger a millionaire; for a brief time, he contemplated retiring, but soon got involved in building railroads.

He opened various lines linking Salt Lake City to mining operations, but the ventures lost a substantial amount of money, and during this period also built Lagoon, a large amusement park in Farmington, Utah.

Herzl believed that Jews, hitherto stigmatized as a rootless, wandering people, urgently needed to get in touch with the soil and develop the agricultural skills that centuries of restrictions in Europe had kept from them.

Due to the impact of the Depression coupled with the growing use of automobiles riding on new state highways, most U.S. interurbans abandoned operations prior to the start of World War II.

Having inherited a large budget deficit, he immediately called for an audit of all state agencies and recovered a million dollars in misallocated funds, a considerable sum at the time.

Bamberger's administration was at the vanguard of modern legislation in other ways as well: in addition to fulfilling his pledge to sign a statewide Prohibition bill before the 18th Amendment was ratified nationwide, he brought Utah to the forefront of securities regulation.

He also signed laws establishing Workers' Compensation and a state industrial commission to administer it, compulsory high school attendance, and a mine tax that actually contravened his own financial interest.

Other reforms instituted by Bamberger included the creation of a public health department and a public utilities commission to regulate the price of gas and electricity; a modified line-item veto to assist the governor in curbing pork barrel politics; popular election of judges on a nonpartisan basis; a longer school year; and a water rights commission to supervise water usage in residential development of hitherto rural areas, an especially crucial issue in any Western state.