The term "grey rhino" was coined by American economist Michelle Wucker as a metaphor for looming, high-probability events with potentially catastrophic consequences, prefaced by clear signs that people tend to ignore.

In China, the term (which usually refers to events) has been adapted as a label for a number of large, privately owned companies, such as Anbang, which have gone on a debt-fuelled foreign spending spree in recent years.