Net Income Per Unit (Details) - USD ($) $ / shares in Units, $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended																12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2015		Sep. 30, 2015		Jun. 30, 2015		Mar. 31, 2015		Dec. 31, 2014		Sep. 30, 2014		Jun. 30, 2014		Mar. 31, 2014		Dec. 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014	Dec. 31, 2013
Earnings Per Share [Abstract]
Percentage of General Partnership interest in company																	1.00%
Percentage of Limited Partners interest in Company																	99.00%
Net income per unit, basic and diluted [Abstract]
Net income attributable to AB Unitholders	$ 161,063		$ 134,976		$ 149,094		$ 141,469		$ 177,425		$ 139,798		$ 136,435		$ 116,725		$ 586,602	$ 570,383	$ 517,676
Weighted average units outstanding—basic (in units)																	271,745,000	269,118,000	271,258,000
Dilutive effect of compensatory options to buy AB Holding Units (in units)																	1,037,000	1,148,000	961,000
Weighted average units outstanding - diluted (in units)																	272,782,000	270,266,000	272,219,000
Basic net income per AB Unit (in dollars per unit)	$ 0.59	[1]	$ 0.49	[1]	$ 0.54	[1]	$ 0.51	[1]	$ 0.65	[1]	$ 0.51	[1]	$ 0.50	[1]	$ 0.43	[1]	$ 2.14	$ 2.10	$ 1.89
Diluted net income per AB Unit (in dollars per unit)	$ 0.59	[1]	$ 0.49	[1]	$ 0.54	[1]	$ 0.51	[1]	$ 0.65	[1]	$ 0.51	[1]	$ 0.50	[1]	$ 0.43	[1]	$ 2.13	$ 2.09	$ 1.88
Options excluded from diluted net income per unit computation due to their anti-dilutive effect (in units)																	2,409,499	2,806,033	2,923,035

[1] Basic and diluted net income per unit are computed independently for each of the periods presented. Accordingly, the sum of the quarterly net income per unit amounts may not agree to the total for the year.