Short-Term and Long-Term Debt (Short-Term Debt) (Details) - USD ($) $ in Millions	12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2019	Dec. 31, 2018
Short Term Debt [Line Items]
Short-term debt	$ 1,933	$ 2,451
Weighted average interest rate on outstanding short-term debt	1.61%	2.41%
Commercial paper
Short Term Debt [Line Items]
Short-term debt	$ 549	$ 742
Weighted average maturity of outstanding commercial paper, in days	6 days	12 days
Senior notes
Short Term Debt [Line Items]
Short-term debt	$ 1,179	$ 1,100
Convertible Debt
Short Term Debt [Line Items]
Short-term debt	0	499
Current portion of long-term debt
Short Term Debt [Line Items]
Short-term debt	1,371	1,656
Borrowings due overnight \| Commercial paper
Short Term Debt [Line Items]
Short-term debt	224	301
Daily average outstanding \| Commercial paper
Short Term Debt [Line Items]
Short-term debt	1,702	1,554
Prudential Financial
Short Term Debt [Line Items]
Short-term debt	1,204	1,115
Prudential Financial \| Commercial paper
Short Term Debt [Line Items]
Short-term debt	$ 25	$ 15
Weighted average interest rate on outstanding short-term debt	1.71%	2.45%
Prudential Financial \| Current portion of long-term debt
Short Term Debt [Line Items]
Short-term debt	$ 1,179	$ 1,100
Prudential Funding, LLC \| Commercial paper
Short Term Debt [Line Items]
Short-term debt	524	727
Bridge Loan \| Foreign public corporate securities
Short Term Debt [Line Items]
Short-term debt	0	53
Mortgages
Short Term Debt [Line Items]
Short-term debt	192	57
Construction Loan Payable
Short Term Debt [Line Items]
Short-term debt	13
Line of Credit
Short Term Debt [Line Items]
Amount Outstanding	$ 13	0
Mortgages
Short Term Debt [Line Items]
Short-term debt		$ 53

Amount of short-term debt and current maturity of long-term debt and capital lease obligations due within one year or the normal operating cycle, if longer.

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 210
-SubTopic 10
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.5-02.19,20)
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+ References

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 230
-SubTopic 10
-Section 45
-Paragraph 14
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-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=118932676&loc=d3e3255-108585

Reference 2: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 235
-SubTopic 10
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
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Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
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