Condensed Consolidated Statements of Financial Condition - USD ($) $ in Thousands	Mar. 31, 2018	Dec. 31, 2017
ASSETS
Cash and cash equivalents	$ 962,280	$ 1,483,836
Deposits with banks and short-term investments	862,865	935,431
Cash deposited with clearing organizations and other segregated cash	38,643	35,539
Receivables (net of allowance for doubtful accounts of $38,557 and $23,746 at March 31, 2018 and December 31, 2017, respectively):
Fees	543,758	487,800
Customers and other	130,928	83,816
Total receivables, net	674,686	571,616
Investments	354,952	427,186
Property (net of accumulated amortization and depreciation of $329,094 and $317,827 at March 31, 2018 and December 31, 2017, respectively)	213,923	205,301
Goodwill and other intangible assets (net of accumulated amortization of $63,874 and $63,099 at March 31, 2018 and December 31, 2017, respectively)	388,328	391,364
Deferred tax assets	638,381	650,260
Other assets	351,037	228,144
Total Assets	4,485,095	4,928,677
Liabilities:
Deposits and other customer payables	955,723	992,338
Accrued compensation and benefits	331,734	593,781
Senior debt	1,190,830	1,190,383
Deferred tax liabilities	9,520	9,407
Other liabilities	663,892	573,588
Total Liabilities	3,428,914	3,669,772
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, 2018 and December 31, 2017, including shares held by subsidiaries as indicated below)	1,298	1,298
Additional paid-in-capital	619,430	788,140
Retained earnings	1,005,548	1,080,413
Accumulated other comprehensive loss, net of tax	(219,124)	(232,518)
Stockholders' equity subtotal before common stock held by subsidiaries and Noncontrolling interests, total	1,407,152	1,637,333
Class A common stock held by subsidiaries, at cost (9,359,466 and 10,747,142 shares at March 31, 2018 and December 31, 2017, respectively)	(410,591)	(437,530)
Total Lazard Ltd Stockholders’ Equity	996,561	1,199,803
Noncontrolling interests	59,620	59,102
Total Stockholders’ Equity	1,056,181	1,258,905
Total Liabilities and Stockholders’ Equity	4,485,095	4,928,677
LTBP Trust [Member]
Liabilities:
Tax receivable agreement obligation	277,215	310,275
Series A Preferred Stock [Member]
Preferred stock:
Preferred stock
Series B Preferred Stock [Member]
Preferred stock:
Preferred stock