Long-term Incentive Compensation Plans (Details) (USD $)	1 Months Ended	3 Months Ended	6 Months Ended		0 Months Ended
	Jan. 31, 2013	Jun. 30, 2013	Jun. 30, 2013	Jun. 30, 2012	Jul. 01, 2013 Subsequent Event [Member]
Long-term Incentive Compensation Plans [Abstract]
Maximum percentage of award an employee can elect to allocate to deferred cash (in hundredths)		50.00%	50.00%
Maximum amount of deferred cash		$ 250,000	$ 250,000
Number of business days used in calculation		5 days	5 days
Restricted Holding Units awarded to employees (in units)	6,500,000		6,800,000
Reclassified liability to partners' capital	129,200,000	129,200,000	129,200,000
Holding Units purchased in periods (in units)		300,000	1,300,000
Dollar amount paid for Holding Units acquired		7,400,000	27,000,000
Open-market purchases of Holding Units (in units)		300,000	1,100,000
Dollar amount paid for open-market purchases of Holding Units		7,200,000	23,200,000
Unallocated Holding Units remaining in rabbi trust (in units)		13,100,000	13,100,000
Units issued upon exercise of options (in units)			778,739
Proceeds from stock options exercised			$ 13,281,000	$ 0
Subsequent Event [Line Items]
Decrease in AllianceBernstein's and Holdings units outstanding					13,100,000