Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations - USD ($) shares in Thousands	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2019	Mar. 31, 2018
Income Statement [Abstract]
Revenues	$ 1,363,218,000	$ 1,215,877,000
Costs and operating expenses:
Cost of revenues	682,030,000	622,430,000
Sales and marketing	169,715,000	159,776,000
General and administrative	215,046,000	203,157,000
Acquisition costs	2,471,000	4,639,000
Impairment charges	14,448,000	0
Total costs and operating expenses	1,083,710,000	990,002,000
Income from operations	279,508,000	225,875,000
Interest income	4,202,000	4,610,000
Interest expense	(122,846,000)	(126,277,000)
Other expense	(166,000)	(3,064,000)
Loss on debt extinguishment	(382,000)	(21,491,000)
Income before income taxes	160,316,000	79,653,000
Income tax expense	(42,569,000)	(16,759,000)
Net income	117,747,000	62,894,000
Net loss attributable to non-controlling interests	331,000	0
Net income attributable to Equinix	$ 118,078,000	$ 62,894,000
Earnings per share (EPS) attributable to Equinix:
Basic EPS (in dollars per share)	$ 1.44	$ 0.79
Weighted-average shares for basic EPS (in shares)	81,814	79,241
Diluted EPS (in dollars per share)	$ 1.44	$ 0.79
Weighted-average shares for diluted EPS (in shares)	82,090	79,649