Net Income per Unit (Details) - USD ($) $ / shares in Units, $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2017	Mar. 31, 2016
Earnings Per Unit [Abstract]
General partnership interest in Company (percent)	1.00%
Limited Partners interest in Company (as a percent)	99.00%
Net income per unit, basic and diluted [Abstract]
Net income attributable to AB Unitholders	$ 139,937	$ 166,284
Weighted average units outstanding – basic (in units)	268,479,000	271,853,000
Dilutive effect of compensatory options to buy AB Holding Units (in units)	534,000	400,000
Weighted average units outstanding – diluted (in units)	269,013,000	272,253,000
Basic net income per AB Unit (in dollars per unit)	$ 0.52	$ 0.61
Diluted net income per AB Unit (in dollars per unit)	$ 0.51	$ 0.60
Options excluded from diluted net income per unit computation due to their anti-dilutive effect (in units)	2,437,307	2,888,476