Net Income per Unit (Details) - USD ($) $ / shares in Units, $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2015	Sep. 30, 2014	Sep. 30, 2015	Sep. 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	$ 134,976	$ 139,798	$ 425,539	$ 392,958
Weighted average units outstanding – basic	271,911,000	269,372,000	272,530,000	268,874,000
Dilutive effect of compensatory options to buy AB Holding Units	970,000	1,249,000	1,113,000	1,174,000
Weighted average units outstanding – diluted	272,881,000	270,621,000	273,643,000	270,048,000
Basic net income per AB Unit (in dollars per unit)	$ 0.49	$ 0.51	$ 1.55	$ 1.45
Diluted net income per AB Unit (in dollars per unit)	$ 0.49	$ 0.51	$ 1.54	$ 1.44
Options excluded from diluted net income per unit computation due to their anti-dilutive effect (in units)	2,771,250	2,774,117	2,383,589	2,806,033