Consolidated Statements of Operations - USD ($) shares in Thousands, $ in Thousands	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2022	Dec. 31, 2021	Dec. 31, 2020
Revenues
Investment banking	$ 494,842	$ 1,067,162	$ 769,486
Brokerage	592,292	585,162	524,361
Securities principal transactions, net	112,829	122,110	124,667
Portfolio fund principal transactions, net	(4,442)	338	20,434
Carried interest allocations	(31,555)	5,059	59,250
Total investment income (loss)	76,832	127,507	204,351
Management fees	66,670	72,287	47,515
Incentive income	646	2,732	592
Interest and dividends	312,134	219,292	187,459
Insurance and reinsurance premiums	36,522	39,631	30,147
Other revenues	7,010	5,211	10,503
Consolidated Funds
Principal transactions, net	(49,234)	(6,194)	(24,338)
Interest and dividends	0	9	5,218
Other revenues	9	0	632
Total revenues	1,537,723	2,112,799	1,755,926
Interest and dividends expense	259,126	211,387	187,725
Total net revenues	1,278,597	1,901,412	1,568,201
Expenses
Employee compensation and benefits	771,386	1,046,371	860,531
Brokerage and trade execution costs	162,598	153,831	139,034
Underwriting expenses	4,914	24,978	22,565
Professional, advisory and other fees	80,564	80,849	59,990
Service fees	29,942	25,768	25,378
Communications	38,041	37,499	32,593
Occupancy and equipment	41,669	40,692	36,559
Depreciation and amortization	27,725	19,004	22,677
Client services and business development	39,333	29,607	20,526
Insurance and reinsurance claims, commissions and amortization of deferred acquisition costs	(12,260)	33,938	33,905
Change in fair value of contingent consideration	(13,560)	15,119	8,492
Other expenses	40,969	21,907	24,703
Consolidated Funds
Interest and dividends	0	0	2,064
Professional, advisory and other fees	121	273	2,087
Brokerage and trade execution costs	0	0	37
Other expenses	127	357	1,221
Total expenses	1,211,569	1,530,193	1,292,362
Other income (loss)
Net gains (losses) on other investments	9,613	35,494	18,879
Bargain purchase gain, net of tax	0	3,855	0
Gain/(loss) on debt extinguishment	0	(4,538)	2,719
Total other income (loss)	9,613	34,811	21,598
Income (loss) before income taxes	76,641	406,030	297,437
Income tax expense (benefit)	10,786	102,039	90,373
Net income (loss)	65,855	303,991	207,064
Net income (loss) attributable to non-controlling interests in consolidated subsidiaries and investment funds	(10,603)	8,380	(9,299)
Net income (loss) attributable to Cowen Inc.	76,458	295,611	216,363
Preferred stock dividends	6,792	6,792	6,792
Net income (loss) attributable to Cowen Inc. common stockholders	$ 69,666	$ 288,819	$ 209,571
Weighted average common shares outstanding:
Basic (in shares)	28,183	27,721	27,790
Diluted (in shares)	31,544	32,628	29,519
Earnings (loss) per share:
Earnings Per Share, Basic (in dollars per share)	$ 2.47	$ 10.42	$ 7.54
Earnings Per Share, Diluted (in dollars per share)	$ 2.21	$ 8.85	$ 7.10