Segment Information (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands		3 Months Ended								12 Months Ended
		Dec. 31, 2018	Sep. 30, 2018	Jun. 30, 2018	Mar. 31, 2018	Dec. 31, 2017	Sep. 30, 2017	Jun. 30, 2017	Mar. 31, 2017	Dec. 31, 2018	Dec. 31, 2017	Dec. 31, 2016	Jan. 01, 2018
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenues		$ 445,939	$ 513,869	$ 481,488	$ 428,966	$ 435,654	$ 484,625	$ 471,989	$ 415,208	$ 1,870,262	$ 1,807,476	$ 1,690,949
Operating income (loss)		48,086	$ 66,018	$ 61,861	$ 48,084	48,204	$ 59,723	$ 74,300	$ 53,421	224,049	235,648	234,505
Equity in earnings from real estate ventures										14,446	21,395	5,200
Identifiable assets		1,549,504				1,328,278				1,549,504	1,328,278	1,404,035	$ 1,349,953
Depreciation and amortization										18,807	18,614	22,359
Capital expenditures										17,682	19,869	26,691
Litigation settlement and judgment expense (income)										(1,784)	6,591	20,000
Restructuring charges										0	0	41
Investments in real estate ventures		141,105				188,131				141,105	188,131	221,258
Investment securities at fair value		131,569				150,489				131,569	150,489
Long-term investments (of which $54,628 and $0 were carried at fair value)		66,259				81,291				66,259	81,291
Equity-method investments		11,631				15,841				11,631	15,841
Corporate and Other
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenues										0	(838)	(776)
Operating income (loss)										(25,913)	(26,191)	(26,020)
Equity in earnings from real estate ventures										0	0	0
Identifiable assets		693,970				460,186				693,970	460,186	502,336
Depreciation and amortization										1,017	1,277	1,650
Capital expenditures										22	35	86
Cash		474,974				195,053				474,974	195,053	280,691
Investment securities at fair value						150,489					150,489	156,903
Long-term investments (of which $54,628 and $0 were carried at fair value)		54,628				65,450				54,628	65,450	34,975
Equity-method investments		11,631				15,841				11,631	15,841	17,721
Tobacco
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenues	[1]									1,111,094	1,080,950	1,011,620
Income (expense) from MSA/NPM settlement										6,298	2,721	(247)
Litigation settlement and judgment expense (income)										685	6,591	20,000
Restructuring charges												41
Tobacco | Operating Segments
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenues										1,111,094	1,080,950	1,011,620
Operating income (loss)										246,527	240,400	237,524
Equity in earnings from real estate ventures										0	0	0
Identifiable assets		315,706				309,316				315,706	309,316	328,349
Depreciation and amortization										8,210	8,826	10,224
Capital expenditures										4,599	3,705	6,445
Real Estate
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenues										759,168	727,364	680,105
Income (expense) from MSA/NPM settlement										2,469
Real Estate | Operating Segments
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenues										759,168	727,364	680,105
Operating income (loss)										3,435	21,439	23,001
Equity in earnings from real estate ventures										14,446	21,395	5,200
Identifiable assets		$ 539,828				$ 558,776				539,828	558,776	573,350
Depreciation and amortization										9,580	8,511	10,485
Capital expenditures										$ 13,061	$ 16,129	$ 20,160

[1] Revenues and cost of sales include federal excise taxes of $469,836, $460,561 and $425,980 for the years ended December 31, 2018, 2017 and 2016, respectively.