Stockholders' Equity (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2016

Stockholders' Equity Note [Abstract]

Schedule of Classes of Capital Stock

Mastercard’s amended and restated certificate of incorporation authorizes the following classes of capital stock:

Class	Par Value Per Share	Authorized Shares (in millions)	Dividend and Voting Rights
A	$0.0001	3,000	One vote per share Dividend rights
B	$0.0001	1,200	Non-voting Dividend rights
Preferred	$0.0001	300	No shares issued or outstanding at December 31, 2016 and 2015, respectively. Dividend and voting rights are to be determined by the Board of Directors of the Company upon issuance.

Schedule of Ownership and Governance Structure

Equity ownership and voting power of the Company’s shares were allocated as follows as of December 31:

	2016				2015
	Equity Ownership		General Voting Power		Equity Ownership		General Voting Power
Public Investors (Class A stockholders)	87.7	%	89.3	%	87.7	%	89.4	%
Principal or Affiliate Customers (Class B stockholders)	1.8	%	—	%	1.9	%	—	%
The MasterCard Foundation (Class A stockholders)	10.5	%	10.7	%	10.4	%	10.6	%

Schedule of Share Repurchases and Authorizations

The following table summarizes the Company’s share repurchase authorizations of its Class A common stock through December 31, 2016, as well as historical purchases:

	Authorization Dates
	December 2016		December 2015		December 2014		December 2013		February 2013		Total
	(in millions, except average price data)
Board authorization	$	4,000	$	4,000	$	3,750	$	3,500	$	2,000	$	17,250
Dollar-value of shares repurchased in 2014	$	—	$	—	$	—	$	3,225	$	161	$	3,386
Remaining authorization at December 31, 2014	$	—	$	—	$	3,750	$	275	$	—	$	4,025
Dollar-value of shares repurchased in 2015	$	—	$	—	$	3,243	$	275	$	—	$	3,518
Remaining authorization at December 31, 2015	$	—	$	4,000	$	507	$	—	$	—	$	4,507
Dollar-value of shares repurchased in 2016	$	—	$	3,004	$	507	$	—	$	—	$	3,511
Remaining authorization at December 31, 2016	$	4,000	$	996	$	—	$	—	$	—	$	4,996
Shares repurchased in 2014	—		—		—		42.6		1.9		44.5
Average price paid per share in 2014	$	—	$	—	$	—	$	75.81	$	83.22	$	76.14
Shares repurchased in 2015	—		—		35.1		3.2		—		38.3
Average price paid per share in 2015	$	—	$	—	$	92.39	$	84.31	$	—	$	91.70
Shares repurchased in 2016	—		31.2		5.7		—		—		36.9
Average price paid per share in 2016	$	—	$	96.15	$	89.76	$	—	$	—	$	95.18
Cumulative shares repurchased through December 31, 2016	—		31.2		40.8		45.8		31.1		148.9
Cumulative average price paid per share	$	—	$	96.15	$	92.03	$	76.42	$	64.26	$	82.29

Schedule of Changes in Common Stock Outstanding [Table Text Block]

The following table presents the changes in the Company’s outstanding Class A and Class B common stock for the years ended December 31:

	Outstanding Shares
	Class A		Class B
	(in millions)
Balance at December 31, 2013	1,148.8		45.4
Purchases of treasury stock	(44.5	)	—
Share-based payments	2.9		—
Conversion of Class B to Class A common stock	8.2		(8.2	)
Balance at December 31, 2014	1,115.4		37.2
Purchases of treasury stock	(38.3	)	—
Share-based payments	2.0		—
Conversion of Class B to Class A common stock	15.9		(15.9	)
Balance at December 31, 2015	1,095.0		21.3
Purchases of treasury stock	(36.9	)	—
Share-based payments	2.3		—
Conversion of Class B to Class A common stock	2.0		(2.0	)
Balance at December 31, 2016	1,062.4		19.3