News Of The Night: Tesla Motors Inc (TSLA)’s Riches, Groupon Inc (GRPN) Conviction & Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc. (GMCR) Gains

…Starbucks’ SBUX +0.71% Chairman and CEO Howard Schultz, and Green Mountain CEO Brian Kelley said in a TV interview on CNBC the five-year deal will push the single-serve brewing system in international markets. Starbucks has a love-hate relationship with Green Mountain GMCR +15.59% , having launched its own single-serve machines last year. Shares of Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc. (NASDAQ:GMCR) were hit hard at the time Starbucks announced its machine in March 2012.

Groupon Goods chief leaves for Staples (Chicago Tribune)
The executive who ran Groupon Inc (NASDAQ:GRPN)’s Goods business has left the Chicago-based company for a new role at office products retailer Staples. The Framingham, Mass.-based company said Tuesday that Faisal Masud will take over as executive vice president of global e-commerce May 20. His job at Staples is a new position that will oversee online sales growth, including the compan’s website and mobile platform.

Why It’s Okay that Tesla Makes Cars for Rich People (MIT Technology Review)
The U.S. Department of Energy has been criticized for loaning money to Tesla Motors because the company makes cars that only rich people can afford. That’s probably part of the reason Elon Musk, Tesla’s CEO, made such a big deal last week in saying that, with a new payment plan, and figuring in savings from gas prices, about 10 percent of the U.S. population can afford a new Model S, up from about 1 percent without the plan. Of course, that still leaves a lot of people out, which is a problem if the point is to make a big dent in petroleum consumption. Still, while there are many valid reasons for objecting to the DOE’s funding of Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA)—or any startup for that matter—the fact that the car it makes is expensive isn’t one of them.