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Organization and Description of Business | 12 Months Ended
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Dec. 31, 2017
Accounting Policies [Abstract] |
Organization and Description of Business | 1. Organization and Description of Business WisdomTree Investments, Inc., through its global subsidiaries (collectively, “WisdomTree” or the “Company”), is an exchange traded product (“ETP”) sponsor and asset manager headquartered in New York. WisdomTree offers ETPs covering equity, fixed income, currency, alternative and commodity asset classes. The Company has the following wholly-owned operating subsidiaries:
| • |  | WisdomTree Asset Management, Inc. (“WTAM”) is a New York based investment adviser registered with the SEC providing investment advisory and other management services to the WisdomTree Trust (“WTT”) and WisdomTree exchange traded funds (“ETFs”).
| • |  | Boost Management Limited (“BML”) is a Jersey based management company providing investment and other management services to Boost Issuer PLC (“BI”) and Boost ETPs.
| • |  | WisdomTree Europe Limited (“WisdomTree Europe”) is a U.K. based company registered with the Financial Conduct Authority providing management and other services to BML and WisdomTree Management Limited.
| • |  | WisdomTree Management Limited (“WTML”) is an Ireland based management company providing investment and other management services to WisdomTree Issuer plc (“WTI”) and WisdomTree UCITS ETFs.
| • |  | WisdomTree Japan Inc. (“WTJ”) is a Japan based company that is registered with Japan’s Ministry of Finance and serves the institutional market selling U.S. listed WisdomTree ETFs in Japan.
| • |  | WisdomTree Commodity Services, LLC (“WTCS”) is a New York based company that serves as the managing owner and commodity pool operator of the WisdomTree Continuous Commodity Index Fund. WTCS is registered with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) and is a member of the National Futures Association (“NFA”).
| • |  | WisdomTree Asset Management Canada, Inc. (“WTAMC”) is a Canada based investment fund manager registered with the Ontario Securities Commission providing fund management services to locally-listed WisdomTree ETFs.
The WisdomTree ETFs are issued in the U.S. by WTT. WTT, a non-consolidated third-party, is a Delaware statutory trust registered with the SEC as an open-end management investment company. The Company has licensed to WTT the use of certain of its own indexes on an exclusive basis for the WisdomTree ETFs in the U.S. The Boost ETPs are issued by BI. BI, a non-consolidated third-party, is a public limited company domiciled in Ireland. The WisdomTree UCITS ETFs are issued by WTI. WTI, a non-consolidated third-party, is a public limited company domiciled in Ireland. The Board of Trustees and Board of Directors of WTT, BI and WTI, respectively, are separate from the Board of Directors of the Company. The respective Trustees and Directors of WTT, BI and WTI, as applicable, are primarily responsible for overseeing the management and affairs of the WisdomTree ETFs, Boost ETPs and the WisdomTree UCITS ETFs for the benefit of the WisdomTree ETF, Boost ETP and the WisdomTree UCITS ETF shareholders, respectively, and have contracted with the Company to provide for general management and administration services. The Company, in turn, has contracted with third parties to provide the majority of these administration services. In addition, certain officers of the Company provide general management services for WTT, BI and WTI. Pending Acquisition of ETFS On November 13, 2017, the Company entered into a Share Sale Agreement with ETF Securities Limited (“ETF Securities”), pursuant to which it agreed to acquire ETF Securities’ European exchange-traded commodity, currency and short-and-leveraged business (“ETFS”) by purchasing the entire issued share capital of a subsidiary into which ETF Securities will have transferred ETFS prior to completion of the acquisition. Pursuant to the Share Sale Agreement, the Company will acquire ETFS for a purchase price, subject to customary adjustments for working capital, consisting of $253.0 million in cash (including $53.0 million from cash on hand), 15,250,000 shares of common stock and 14,750 shares of a new class of Series A Non-Voting Convertible Preferred Stock that is convertible, subject to certain restrictions, into an aggregate of 14,750,000 shares of our common stock. The Company has secured commitments for senior secured debt financing of $250.0 million from Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC in support of the acquisition, which will be comprised of a $50.0 million revolving credit facility and a $200.0 million term loan facility. Interest under the credit facilities will accrue at a rate per annum of up to LIBOR plus 2.00% (commencing at LIBOR plus 1.75%) or up to ABR plus 1.00% (commencing at ABR plus 0.75%), subject to step-downs based on our ratio of debt to adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (“EBITDA”). Commitment fees on any undrawn portion of the revolving credit facility will begin at 0.50% and also will be subject to step-downs based on the Company’s ratio of debt to EBITDA. The revolving credit facility will provide for borrowings denominated in U.S. dollars, Euros and British Pounds. The term of the facilities will be three years from the date of completion of the acquisition. The credit agreement governing the facilities will include a leverage test. Entering into the credit agreement is subject to customary closing conditions, including, among others, completion of the acquisition. Completion of the acquisition is subject to customary closing conditions, including, among others, obtaining regulatory approvals and the Company and ETF Securities entering into an Investor Rights Agreement, pursuant to which, among other things, ETF Securities will be subject to lock-up, standstill and voting restrictions, and will receive certain registration rights with respect to the common stock, including the Series A Non-Voting Convertible Preferred Stock, it will receive in the transaction. The Share Sale Agreement will terminate if the conditions to complete the acquisition are not satisfied on or prior to May 13, 2018, subject to the parties agreeing to extend such date.

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- Definition The entire disclosure for the business description and basis of presentation concepts. Business description describes the nature and type of organization including but not limited to organizational structure as may be applicable to holding companies, parent and subsidiary relationships, business divisions, business units, business segments, affiliates and information about significant ownership of the reporting entity. Basis of presentation describes the underlying basis used to prepare the financial statements (for example, US Generally Accepted Accounting Principles, Other Comprehensive Basis of Accounting, IFRS). + References Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 205 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/topic&trid=2122149 Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 275 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/topic&trid=2134479 Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 235 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/topic&trid=2122369 + Details
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