Basically, SOX would apply if the numbers Tesla announce in quarterly reports were derived from metrics taken from production-line systems. The wrongdoing is th

Basically, SOX would apply if the numbers Tesla announce in quarterly reports were derived from metrics taken from production-line systems. The wrongdoing is the same in every cause of SOX non-compliance: misleading investors to manipulate stock price. So Sarbanes-Oxley came about because Enron were stating investor-facing metrics that didn't match reality. SOX compliance comes about if you: * are publicly-listed * announce numbers to investors If those numbers are counted by a computer, you must show that you have procedures in place to prevent a single person from making a change to the code which would allow them to choose what number is produced. So, if you were some web app that mentioned Monthly Active Users in your quarterly results: bam! Your release process now has to be SOX-compliant, since the MAU calculations come from analytics (from the frontend, or from access logs) which could be altered by some nefarious code. Note that the intent of the act isn't to prevent such a thing from happening, but to make sure there is enough information for external auditors to detect it if it occurs.