Net Income per Unit (Details) - USD ($) $ / shares in Units, $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2015	Jun. 30, 2014	Jun. 30, 2015	Jun. 30, 2014
Earnings Per Unit [Abstract]
General Partner partnership interest	1.00%		1.00%
Limited Partners interest in Company			99.00%
Net income per unit, basic and diluted [Abstract]
Net income attributable to AB Unitholders	$ 149,094	$ 136,435	$ 290,563	$ 253,160
Weighted average units outstanding – basic	272,858,000	268,782,000	272,844,000	268,621,000
Dilutive effect of compensatory options to buy AB Holding Units	1,253,000	1,169,000	1,184,000	1,127,000
Weighted average units outstanding – diluted	274,111,000	269,951,000	274,028,000	269,748,000
Basic net income per AB Unit (in dollars per unit)	$ 0.54	$ 0.50	$ 1.05	$ 0.93
Diluted net income per AB Unit (in dollars per unit)	$ 0.54	$ 0.50	$ 1.05	$ 0.93
Options excluded from diluted net income per unit computation due to their anti-dilutive effect (in units)	2,383,589	2,806,033	2,383,589	2,806,033