Acquisitions (Details) $ / shares in Units, $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended													12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2017 USD ($) $ / shares		Sep. 30, 2017 USD ($) $ / shares		Jul. 01, 2017 USD ($) $ / shares		Apr. 01, 2017 USD ($) $ / shares		Dec. 31, 2016 USD ($) $ / shares		Oct. 01, 2016 USD ($) $ / shares	Jul. 02, 2016 USD ($) $ / shares	Apr. 02, 2016 USD ($) $ / shares	Dec. 31, 2017 USD ($) Acquisitions $ / shares		Dec. 31, 2016 USD ($) Acquisitions $ / shares		Dec. 31, 2015 USD ($) Acquisitions $ / shares
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Revenue, Net	$ 7,633,870		$ 6,953,740		$ 6,465,346		$ 5,759,552		$ 6,442,891		$ 5,936,092	$ 5,972,101	$ 5,474,177	$ 26,812,508		$ 23,825,261		$ 23,282,020
Goodwill	2,470,047	[1]							2,392,220	[2]				2,470,047	[1]	2,392,220	[2]	2,368,832	[2]
Payments to Acquire Businesses, Net of Cash Acquired														3,628		64,751		514,731
Business Acquisition, Pro Forma Revenue																		23,684,746
Net income attributable to shareholders	$ 53,885	[3]	$ 134,630		$ 99,679	[4]	$ 113,768		$ 164,518		$ 117,727	$ 134,270	$ 106,235	$ 401,962		$ 522,750		497,726
Business Acquisition, Pro Forma Net Income (Loss)																		$ 500,554
Earnings Per Share, Basic | $ / shares	$ 0.61	[5]	$ 1.52	[5]	$ 1.12	[5]	$ 1.27	[5]	$ 1.84		$ 1.29	$ 1.46	$ 1.16	$ 4.53		$ 5.75		$ 5.26
Business Acquisition, Pro Forma Earnings Per Share, Basic | $ / shares																		5.29
Earnings Per Share, Diluted | $ / shares	$ 0.60	[5]	$ 1.50	[5]	$ 1.11	[5]	$ 1.26	[5]	$ 1.81		$ 1.28	$ 1.45	$ 1.14	$ 4.48	[6]	$ 5.68	[6]	5.20	[6]
Business Acquisition, Pro Forma Earnings Per Share, Diluted | $ / shares																		$ 5.23
immixGroup [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Goodwill																		$ 183,840
Business Combination, Recognized Identifiable Assets Acquired and Liabilities Assumed, Current Assets, Receivables																		145,130
Business Combination, Recognized Identifiable Assets Acquired and Liabilities Assumed, Current Assets, Other																		24,181
Business Combination, Recognized Identifiable Assets Acquired and Liabilities Assumed, Property, Plant, and Equipment																		1,569
Business Combination, Recognized Identifiable Assets Acquired and Liabilities Assumed, Finite-Lived Intangibles																		5,313
Cash Acquired from Acquisition																		28,205
Business Combination, Pro Forma Information, Revenue of Acquiree since Acquisition Date, Actual																		384,926
Business Acquisition, Cost of Acquired Entity, Cash Paid																		280,454
Finite-Lived Customer Relationships, Gross																		46,400
Business Combination, Recognized Identifiable Assets Acquired and Liabilities Assumed, Current Liabilities, Accounts Payable																		(136,921)
Business Combination, Recognized Identifiable Assets Acquired and Liabilities Assumed, Current Liabilities																		(11,736)
Business Combination, Recognized Identifiable Assets Acquired and Liabilities Assumed, Noncurrent Liabilities, Other																		(5,527)
Business Combination, Recognized Identifiable Assets Acquired and Liabilities Assumed, Net																		252,249
Series of Individually Immaterial Business Acquisitions [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Debt acquired from acquisition																		$ 84,487
Number of Businesses Acquired | Acquisitions														2		3		9
Payments to Acquire Businesses, Net of Cash Acquired														$ 3,628		$ 63,869		$ 263,341
Data Modul AG [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Business Acquisition, Percentage of Voting Interests Acquired	69.20%													69.20%				53.70%
Additional Percentage Interest Acquired of Subsidiary Shares from Noncontrolling Interest														11.90%				3.60%
Payments to Acquire Additional Interest in Subsidiaries														$ 23,350,000
Trade Names [Member] | immixGroup [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Acquired Finite-lived Intangible Assets, Weighted Average Useful Life																		5 years
Finite-Lived Trade Names, Gross																		$ 2,400
Customer Relationships [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Acquired Finite-lived Intangible Assets, Weighted Average Useful Life														10 years		10 years
Customer Relationships [Member] | immixGroup [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Finite-Lived Customer Relationships, Gross																		$ 44,000
Acquired Finite-lived Intangible Assets, Weighted Average Useful Life																		13 years

[1] The total carrying value of goodwill of companies acquired as of December 31, 2017 in the table above is reflected net of $1,026,702 of accumulated impairment charges, of which $716,925 was recorded in the global components business segment and $309,777 was recorded in the global ECS business segment.

[2] The total carrying value of goodwill of companies acquired as of December 31, 2016 and December 31, 2015 in the table above is reflected net of $1,018,780 of accumulated impairment charges, of which $716,925 was recorded in the global components business segment and $301,855 was recorded in the global ECS business segment.

[3] U.S. Tax Act expense of $124.7 million during the fourth quarter of 2017.

[4] a loss on extinguishment of debt of $58.8 million

[5] Quarterly net income per share is calculated using the weighted-average shares outstanding during each quarterly period, while net income per share for the full year is calculated using the weighted-average shares outstanding during the year. Therefore, the sum of the net income per share for each of the four quarters may not equal the net income per share for the full year.

[6] Stock-based compensation awards for the issuance of 380 shares, 766 shares, and 658 shares for the years ended December 31, 2017, 2016, and 2015, respectively, were excluded from the computation of net income per share on a diluted basis as their effect was anti-dilutive.