Stockholders' Equity - Earnings per share (Details) - USD ($) $ / shares in Units, $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2020	Mar. 31, 2019
Components of basic and diluted earnings per share
Net income attributable to Waddell & Reed Financial, Inc.	$ 21,986	$ 32,053
Weighted average shares outstanding - basic and diluted	67,675,000	76,299,000
Earnings per share:
Earnings per share, basic and diluted (in dollars per share)	$ 0.32	$ 0.42
Dividends
Dividends declared (in dollars per share)	$ 0.25	$ 0.25
Dividends payable to stockholders	$ 16,500
Common stock repurchases
Shares repurchased in the open market or privately	3,807,438	2,226,325
Shares repurchased from employees to cover income tax withholdings	231,393	149,073

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

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