Net Income (Loss) Per Class A Share - Basic and Diluted Net Income (Loss) Per Class A Share (Detail) (USD $) In Thousands, except Share data, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2013	Jun. 30, 2012	Jun. 30, 2013	Jun. 30, 2012
Numerator:
Distributions declared on Class A shares	$ (80,782)	$ (31,615)	$ (219,529)	$ (89,695)
Distributions on participating securities	(14,300)	(6,192)	(39,292)	(16,498)
Earnings allocable to participating securities			(7,723)
Undistributed income (loss) attributable to class A shareholders: Basic	(36,345)	(79,193)	41,171	(49,536)
Dilution effect on undistributed income attributable to Class A shareholders			6,216	161
Dilution effect on distributable income attributable to participating securities			(778)
Undistributed Income (Loss) attributable to class A shareholders: diluted	(36,345)	(79,193)	46,609	(49,375)
Denominator:
Weighted average number of Class A shares outstanding: Basic	137,289,147	126,457,443	134,285,776	125,863,348
Dilution effect of share options and unvested RSUs			3,818,687	397,419
Weighted average number of Class A shares outstanding: Diluted	137,289,147	126,457,443	138,104,463	126,260,767
Net income (loss) per Class A share: Basic
Distributed Income	$ 0.59	$ 0.25	$ 1.63	$ 0.71
Undistributed Income	$ (0.27)	$ (0.63)	$ 0.31	$ (0.39)
Net Income (Loss) per Class A Share: Basic	$ 0.32	$ (0.38)	$ 1.94	$ 0.32
Net Income (Loss) per Class A Share: Diluted
Distributed income (loss)	$ 0.59	$ 0.25	$ 1.59	$ 0.71
Undistributed (loss) income	$ (0.27)	$ (0.63)	$ 0.34	$ (0.39)
Net Income (Loss) per Class A Share: Diluted	$ 0.32	$ (0.38)	$ 1.93	$ 0.32
Apollo Global Management, LLC [Member]
Numerator:
Net income (loss)	$ 58,737	$ (41,386)	$ 307,715	$ 56,657