Equity	9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2011
Equity [Abstract]
Equity	(12) Equity During 2008, the board of directors authorized a share repurchase program with no stated expiration date that allows Federated to buy back as many as 5 million shares of Class B common stock. The program authorizes executive management to determine the timing and the amount of shares for each purchase. The repurchased stock will be held in treasury for employee share-based compensation plans, potential acquisitions and other corporate activities. During the first nine months of 2011, Federated repurchased 1.0 million shares of common stock for $19.1 million, the majority of which were repurchased in the open market and the remainder of which were repurchased in connection with employee separations and were not counted against the board-approved share repurchase program. At September 30, 2011, 2.7 million shares remain available to be purchased under the current buyback program.

Equity

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2011

(12) Equity

During 2008, the board of directors authorized a share repurchase program with no stated expiration date that allows Federated to buy back as many as 5 million shares of Class B common stock. The program authorizes executive management to determine the timing and the amount of shares for each purchase. The repurchased stock will be held in treasury for employee share-based compensation plans, potential acquisitions and other corporate activities.

During the first nine months of 2011, Federated repurchased 1.0 million shares of common stock for $19.1 million, the majority of which were repurchased in the open market and the remainder of which were repurchased in connection with employee separations and were not counted against the board-approved share repurchase program. At September 30, 2011, 2.7 million shares remain available to be purchased under the current buyback program.