Condensed Consolidated Statements of Financial Condition - USD ($) $ in Thousands	Mar. 31, 2017	Dec. 31, 2016
ASSETS
Cash and cash equivalents	$ 891,455	$ 1,158,785
Deposits with banks and short-term investments	572,496	419,668
Cash deposited with clearing organizations and other segregated cash	33,687	29,030
Receivables (net of allowance for doubtful accounts of $29,662 and $16,386 at March 31, 2017 and December 31, 2016, respectively):
Fees	439,836	564,291
Customers and other	87,778	73,991
Total receivables, net	527,614	638,282
Investments	382,074	459,422
Property (net of accumulated amortization and depreciation of $296,280 and $286,001 at March 31, 2017 and December 31, 2016, respectively)	206,143	209,021
Goodwill and other intangible assets (net of accumulated amortization of $60,909 and $60,080 at March 31, 2017 and December 31, 2016, respectively)	387,908	382,024
Deferred tax assets	1,135,107	1,075,777
Other assets	248,774	184,499
Total Assets	4,385,258	4,556,508
Liabilities:
Deposits and other customer payables	625,797	472,283
Accrued compensation and benefits	288,987	541,588
Senior debt	1,189,043	1,188,600
Deferred tax liabilities	8,801	9,168
Capital lease obligations	6,913	7,205
Other liabilities	539,656	530,241
Total Liabilities	3,172,071	3,262,695
Commitments and contingencies
Common stock:
Class A, par value $.01 per share (500,000,000 shares authorized; 129,766,091 shares issued at March 31, 2017 and December 31, 2016, including shares held by subsidiaries as indicated below)	1,298	1,298
Additional paid-in-capital	608,073	688,231
Retained earnings	1,101,988	1,134,186
Accumulated other comprehensive loss, net of tax	(296,699)	(314,222)
Stockholders' equity subtotal before common stock held by subsidiaries and Noncontrolling interests, total	1,414,660	1,509,493
Class A common stock held by subsidiaries, at cost (6,879,471 and 7,628,786 shares at March 31, 2017 and December 31, 2016, respectively)	(261,583)	(273,506)
Total Lazard Ltd Stockholders’ Equity	1,153,077	1,235,987
Noncontrolling interests	60,110	57,826
Total Stockholders’ Equity	1,213,187	1,293,813
Total Liabilities and Stockholders’ Equity	4,385,258	4,556,508
LTBP Trust [Member]
Liabilities:
Tax receivable agreement obligation	512,874	513,610
Series A Preferred Stock [Member]
Preferred stock:
Preferred stock
Series B Preferred Stock [Member]
Preferred stock:
Preferred stock