Basis of Presentation and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies (Policies)	6 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2017
Basis of Presentation and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies [Abstract]
Consolidation, Policy	Principles of Consolidation As of June 30, 2017, our condensed consolidated financial statements include the accounts of (i) Icahn Enterprises and Icahn Enterprises Holdings and (ii) the wholly and majority owned subsidiaries of Icahn Enterprises and Icahn Enterprises Holdings, in addition to variable interest entities ("VIEs") in which we are the primary beneficiary. In evaluating whether we have a controlling financial interest in entities that we consolidate, we consider the following: (1) for voting interest entities, including limited partnerships and similar entities that are not VIEs, we consolidate these entities in which we own a majority of the voting interests; and (2) for VIEs, we consolidate these entities in which we are the primary beneficiary. See below for a discussion of our VIEs. Kick-out rights, which are the rights underlying the limited partners' ability to dissolve the limited partnership or otherwise remove the general partners, held through voting interests of partnerships and similar entities that are not VIEs are considered the equivalent of the equity interests of corporations that are not VIEs. Except for our Investment segment, for those investments in which we own 50% or less but greater than 20%, we generally account for such investments using the equity method, while investments in affiliates of 20% or less are accounted for under the cost method.
Fair Value of Financial Instruments, Policy	Fair Value of Financial Instruments The carrying values of cash and cash equivalents, cash held at consolidated affiliated partnerships and restricted cash, accounts receivable, due from brokers, accounts payable, accrued expenses and other liabilities and due to brokers are deemed to be reasonable estimates of their fair values because of their short-term nature. See Note 4, “Investments and Related Matters,” and Note 5, “Fair Value Measurements,” for a detailed discussion of our investments and other non-financial assets and/or liabilities.
New Accounting Pronouncements	Adoption of New Accounting Standards In July 2015, the Financial Accounting Standards Board ("FASB") issued Accounting Standards Update ("ASU") No. 2015-11, Simplifying the Measurement of Inventory, which amends FASB Accounting Standards Codification ("ASC") Topic 330, Inventory. This ASU requires entities to measure inventory at the lower of cost or net realizable value and eliminates the option that currently exists for measuring inventory at market value. Net realizable value is the estimated selling prices in the ordinary course of business, less reasonably predictable costs of completion, disposal, and transportation. This ASU is effective beginning with our interim period beginning January 1, 2017. The adoption of this guidance was applied prospectively and had minimal impact on our consolidated financial statements. In March 2016, the FASB issued ASU No. 2016-07, Simplifying the Transition to the Equity Method of Accounting, which amends FASB ASC Topic 323, Investments - Equity Method and Joint Ventures. This ASU eliminates the retroactive adjustment of an investment that qualifies for the equity method as a result of an increase in the level of ownership or degree of influence as if the equity method had been in effect during all previous periods that the investment had been held. This ASU is effective beginning with our interim period beginning January 1, 2017. The adoption of this guidance had minimal impact on our consolidated financial statements. In March 2016, the FASB issued ASU No. 2016-09, Improvements to Employee Share-Based Payment Accounting, which amends FASB ASC Topic 718, Compensation - Stock Compensation. This ASU simplifies several aspects of the accounting for share-based payment transactions, including income the income tax consequences, classification of awards as either equity or liabilities, and classification on the statement of cash flows. This ASU is effective beginning with our interim period beginning January 1, 2017. During the first quarter of 2017, the board of directors of the general partner of Icahn Enterprises unanimously approved and adopted the Icahn Enterprises L.P. 2017 Long Term Incentive Plan (the "2017 Incentive Plan"), which became effective during the first quarter of 2017 subject to the approval by holders of a majority of Icahn Enterprises depositary units. The 2017 Incentive Plan permits us to issue depositary units and grant options, restricted units or other unit-based awards to all of our, and our affiliates', employees, consultants, members and partners, as well as the three non-employee directors of our general partner. One million of Icahn Enterprises' depositary units are initially available under the 2017 Incentive Plan. Prior to the adoption of the 2017 Incentive Plan, accounting for unit-based payments did not apply to us. Therefore, the adoption of this guidance in 2017 was the result of the adoption of the 2017 Incentive Plan and which had a minimal impact on our consolidated financial statements. In October 2016, the FASB issued ASU No. 2016-16, Intra-Entity Transfers of Assets Other Than Inventory, which amends FASB ASC Topic 740, Income Taxes. This ASU requires the recognition of income tax consequences of an intra-entity transfer of an asset other than inventory when the transfer occurs. Current U.S. GAAP prohibits the recognition of current and deferred incomes taxes for an intra-entity asset transfer until the asset has been sold to an outside party. This ASU is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2017, and interim periods within those fiscal years. Early adoption is permitted. We have elected to early adopt this guidance in the first quarter of 2017. The impact of early adopting this guidance on our consolidated financial statements is a cumulative effect adjustment to decrease our equity attributable to Icahn Enterprises and Icahn Enterprises Holdings as of January 1, 2017 by $47 million to reverse previously deferred charges and recognize them in equity. In January 2017, the FASB issued ASU No. 2017-01, Clarifying the Definition of a Business, which amends FASB ASC Topic 805, Business Combinations. This ASU provides guidance on what constitutes a business for purposes of applying FASB ASC Topic 805. This ASU is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2017, and interim periods within those fiscal years. We have elected to early adopt this guidance in the first quarter of 2017. We did not have any material transactions affected by this guidance and therefore, the adoption of this guidance did not have a material impact on our consolidated financial statements. In January 2017, the FASB issued ASU No. 2017-04, Simplifying the Test for Goodwill Impairment, which amends FASB ASC Topic 350, Intangibles - Goodwill and Other. This ASU simplifies the subsequent measurement of goodwill by eliminating "Step 2" from the goodwill impairment test which, prior to adoption of this ASU, requires comparing the implied fair value of goodwill with its carrying value. By eliminating "Step 2" from the goodwill impairment test, the quantitative analysis of goodwill will result in an impairment loss for the amount that the carrying value of a reporting unit, including goodwill, exceeds its fair value, limited to the total amount of goodwill allocated to the tested reporting unit. While this ASU reduces the complexity and cost of our goodwill impairment tests, it may result in significant differences in the recognition of goodwill impairment. For example, should our reporting units fail "Step 1" of the impairment tests but pass the current "Step 2" impairment tests, we may have more impairments of goodwill under the new guidance. This ASU is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2019, and interim periods within those fiscal years. Early adoption is permitted beginning for interim and annual goodwill impairment tests performed on testing dates after January 1, 2017. We have elected to early adopt this guidance for our interim and annual goodwill impairment tests to be performed on testing dates beginning in 2017. This ASU principally affects our Automotive segment as substantially all of our goodwill balance pertains to our Automotive segment as of June 30, 2017. We did not perform any interim goodwill impairment analysis in 2017 and therefore, the adoption of this guidance had no impact on our
Description of New Accounting Pronouncements Not yet Adopted	Recently Issued Accounting Standards In May 2014, the FASB issued ASU No. 2014-09, creating a new topic, FASB ASC Topic 606, Revenue from Contracts with Customers, superseding revenue recognition requirements in FASB ASC Topic 605, Revenue Recognition. This ASU requires that an entity recognize revenue to depict the transfer of promised goods or services to customers in an amount that reflects the consideration to which the entity expects to be entitled to in exchange for those goods or services. In addition, an entity is required to disclose sufficient information to enable users of financial statements to understand the nature, amount, timing and uncertainty of revenue and cash flows arising from contracts with customers. This ASU was amended by ASU No. 2015-14, issued in August 2015, which deferred the original effective date by one year; the effective date of this ASU is for fiscal years, and interim reporting periods within those years, beginning after December 15, 2017, using one of two retrospective application methods. In addition, the FASB issued other amendments during 2016 to FASB ASC Topic 606 that include implementation guidance to principal versus agent considerations, guidance to identifying performance obligations and licensing guidance and other narrow scope improvements. We have developed an implementation plan to adopt this new ASU. As part of this plan, we are continuing to assess the impact of this new standard on our business processes, business and accounting systems, and consolidated financial statements and related disclosures. We expect to complete our assessment within the next several months after which we will initiate the design and implementation phases of the plan, including implementing any changes to existing business processes and systems to accommodate these new standards, during 2017. We will adopt these new standards on January 1, 2018 using the modified retrospective application method. To date, we have not identified any material differences in our existing revenue recognition methods that would require modification under the new standards. In January 2016, the FASB issued ASU No. 2016-01, Financial Instruments - Overall, which amends FASB ASC Topic 825, Financial Instruments. This ASU requires that equity investments (except those accounted for under the equity method of accounting or those that result in the consolidation of the investee) to be measured at fair value with changes recognized in earnings. However, an entity may choose to measure equity investments that do not have readily determinable fair values at cost minus impairment. In addition, there were other amendments to certain disclosure and presentation matters pertaining to financial instruments, including the requirement of an entity to use the exit price notion when measuring the fair value of financial instruments for disclosure purposes. This ASU is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2017, including interim periods within those fiscal years. The amendments in this ASU should be applied by means of a cumulative-effect adjustment to the balance sheet as of the beginning of the fiscal year of adoption. The amendments related to equity securities without readily determinable fair values should be applied prospectively to equity investments that exist as of the date of adoption. Early application is permitted for certain matters only. We are currently evaluating the impact of this guidance on our consolidated financial statements. In February 2016, the FASB issued ASU No. 2016-02, Leases (Topic 842), which supersedes FASB ASC Topic 840, Leases. This ASU requires the recognition of lease assets and lease liabilities by lessees for those leases classified as operating leases under previous guidance. In addition, among other changes to the accounting for leases, this ASU retains the distinction between finance leases and operating leases. The classification criteria for distinguishing between finance leases and operating leases are substantially similar to the classification criteria for distinguishing between capital leases and operating leases in the previous guidance. This ASU is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2018, including interim periods within those fiscal years. The amendments in this ASU should be applied using a modified retrospective approach. Early application is permitted. We anticipate our assessment and implementation plan to be ongoing during the remainder of 2017 and into 2018 and are currently unable to reasonably estimate the impact of this guidance on our consolidated financial statements. In June 2016, the FASB issued ASU No. 2016-13, Measurement of Credit Losses on Financial Instruments, which amends FASB ASC Topic 326, Financial Instruments - Credit Losses. This ASU requires financial assets measured at amortized cost to be presented at the net amount to be collected and broadens the information, including forecasted information incorporating more timely information, that an entity must consider in developing its expected credit loss estimate for assets measured. This ASU is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2019, including interim periods within those fiscal years. Early application is permitted for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2018. We are currently evaluating the impact of this guidance on our consolidated financial statements. In August 2016, the FASB issued ASU No. 2016-15, Classification of Certain Cash Receipts and Cash Payments, which amends FASB ASC Topic 230, Statement of Cash Flows. This ASU seeks to reduce the diversity currently in practice by providing guidance on the presentation of eight specific cash flow issues in the statement of cash flows. This ASU is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2017, and interim periods within those fiscal years. We are currently evaluating the impact of this guidance on our consolidated statements of cash flows. In November 2016, the FASB issued ASU No. 2016-18, Restricted Cash, which amends FASB ASC Topic 230, Statement of Cash Flows. This ASU requires that the statement of cash flows explain the change during the period total cash, cash equivalents, and amounts generally described as restricted cash or restricted cash equivalents. This ASU is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2017, and interim periods within those fiscal years. Early adoption is permitted. We are currently evaluating the impact of this guidance on our consolidated financial statements. In March 2017, the FASB issued ASU No. 2017-07, Improving the Presentation of Net Periodic Pension Cost and Net Periodic Postretirement Benefit Cost, which amends FASB ASC Topic 715, Compensation - Retirement Benefits. This ASU requires entities to present the service cost component of net periodic benefit cost in the same line item or items in the financial statements as other compensation costs arising from services rendered by the pertinent employees during the period. This ASU is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2017, and interim periods within those fiscal years. Early adoption is permitted. We are currently evaluating the impact of this guidance on our consolidated financial statements. In May 2017, the FASB issued ASU No. 2017-09, Scope of Modification Accounting, which amends FASB ASC Topic 718, Compensation - Stock Compensation. This ASU provides updated guidance about which changes to the terms and conditions of a share-based payment award require an entity to apply modification accounting in Topic 718. This ASU is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2017, and interim periods within those fiscal years. Early adoption is permitted. We are currently evaluating the impact of this guidance on our consolidated financial statements.