XML 42 R76.htm IDEA: XBRL DOCUMENT v3.19.3.a.u2

Capital Stock (Narrative) (Details) - USD ($)	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended	12 Months Ended			18 Months Ended	31 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2019	Jun. 30, 2019	Sep. 30, 2019	Dec. 31, 2019	Dec. 31, 2018	Dec. 31, 2017	Jun. 30, 2019	Jan. 31, 2018	Jul. 31, 2019	May 31, 2018	Jul. 31, 2017	Oct. 31, 2016	Jul. 31, 2015
Class of Stock [Line Items]
Common stock, shares authorized (in shares)				12,000,000,000
Increase in quarterly dividend rate	5.00%
Cash dividends declared (USD per share)	$ 0.84	$ 0.80		$ 3.28	$ 3.00	$ 2.54
Common stock, dividends, per share, annualized (USD per share)			$ 3.36
Repurchase of common stock (in shares)				16,503,317	27,878,324	41,604,141
Average price of repurchased shares (USD per share)				$ 51.24	$ 60.00	$ 70.10
July 2015 Share Repurchase Program [Member]
Class of Stock [Line Items]
Stock repurchase program, authorized amount											$ 4,000,000,000.0	$ 3,000,000,000.0	$ 1,000,000,000.0
Repurchase of common stock (in shares)					300,000	41,600,000		58,700,000
Average price of repurchased shares (USD per share)					$ 71.68	$ 70.10		$ 68.15
January 2018 Share Repurchase Program [Member]
Class of Stock [Line Items]
Stock repurchase program, authorized amount								$ 1,000,000,000.0		$ 2,000,000,000.0
Repurchase of common stock (in shares)				6,400,000	27,600,000		34,000,000.0
Average price of repurchased shares (USD per share)				$ 54.36	$ 59.89		$ 58.86
July 2019 Share Repurchase Program [Member]
Class of Stock [Line Items]
Stock repurchase program, authorized amount									$ 1,000,000,000.0
Repurchase of common stock (in shares)				10,100,000
Average price of repurchased shares (USD per share)				$ 49.29
Amount remaining in the share repurchased program				$ 500,000,000
Serial Preferred Stock [Member]
Class of Stock [Line Items]
Preferred stock, shares authorized (in shares)				10,000,000
Preferred stock, par value (USD per share)				$ 1.00
Preferred stock, shares issued (in shares)				0
Share-based Payment Arrangement [Member]
Class of Stock [Line Items]
Shares of common stock reserved for stock-based awards (in shares)				39,288,323

X

- Definition

Common Stock, Dividends, Per Share, Annualized

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	mo_CommonStockDividendsPerShareAnnualized
Namespace Prefix:	mo_
Data Type:	num:perShareItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

X

- Definition

Common Stock, Increase (Decrease) in Dividend Rate, Percentage

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	mo_CommonStockIncreaseDecreaseinDividendRatePercentage
Namespace Prefix:	mo_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

X

- Definition

Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_ClassOfStockLineItems
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

X

- Definition

Aggregate number of common shares reserved for future issuance.

+ References

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 210.5-02.29)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6877327&loc=d3e13212-122682

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_CommonStockCapitalSharesReservedForFutureIssuance
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:sharesItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant

X

- Definition

Aggregate dividends declared during the period for each share of common stock outstanding.

+ References

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 505
-SubTopic 10
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.3-04)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=27012166&loc=d3e187085-122770

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_CommonStockDividendsPerShareDeclared
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	num:perShareItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

X

- Definition

The maximum number of common shares permitted to be issued by an entity's charter and bylaws.

+ References

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(29))
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6877327&loc=d3e13212-122682

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_CommonStockSharesAuthorized
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:sharesItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant

X

- Definition

Face amount or stated value per share of preferred stock nonredeemable or redeemable solely at the option of the issuer.

+ References

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(28))
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6877327&loc=d3e13212-122682

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_PreferredStockParOrStatedValuePerShare
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	num:perShareItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant

X

- Definition

The maximum number of nonredeemable preferred shares (or preferred stock redeemable solely at the option of the issuer) permitted to be issued by an entity's charter and bylaws.

+ References

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(28))
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6877327&loc=d3e13212-122682

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_PreferredStockSharesAuthorized
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:sharesItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant

X

- Definition

Total number of nonredeemable preferred shares (or preferred stock redeemable solely at the option of the issuer) issued to shareholders (includes related preferred shares that were issued, repurchased, and remain in the treasury). May be all or portion of the number of preferred shares authorized. Excludes preferred shares that are classified as debt.

+ References

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(28))
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6877327&loc=d3e13212-122682

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_PreferredStockSharesIssued
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:sharesItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant

X

- Definition

Amount of stock repurchase plan authorized.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_StockRepurchaseProgramAuthorizedAmount1
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

X

- Definition

Amount remaining of a stock repurchase plan authorized.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_StockRepurchaseProgramRemainingAuthorizedRepurchaseAmount1
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

X

- Definition

Total cost of shares repurchased divided by the total number of shares repurchased.

+ References

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 505
-SubTopic 30
-Section 45
-Paragraph 1
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6405813&loc=d3e23239-112655

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_TreasuryStockAcquiredAverageCostPerShare
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	num:perShareItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

X

- Definition

Number of shares that have been repurchased during the period and are being held in treasury.

+ References

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 505
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 2
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=109259400&loc=d3e21463-112644

Reference 2: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 505
-SubTopic 10
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.3-04)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=27012166&loc=d3e187085-122770

Reference 3: 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(29))
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6877327&loc=d3e13212-122682

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_TreasuryStockSharesAcquired
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:sharesItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

X

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_ShareRepurchaseProgramAxis=mo_July2015ShareRepurchaseProgramMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

X

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_ShareRepurchaseProgramAxis=mo_January2018ShareRepurchaseProgramMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

X

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_ShareRepurchaseProgramAxis=mo_July2019ShareRepurchaseProgramMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

X

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_StatementClassOfStockAxis=mo_SerialPreferredStockMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

X

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_AwardTypeAxis=us-gaap_StockCompensationPlanMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type: