Consolidated Statements of Operations (USD $) In Thousands, except Per Share data, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2014	Mar. 31, 2013
Income Statement [Abstract]
Net revenues	$ 45,159	$ 26,351
Cost of revenues	34,310	18,665
Gross profit	10,849	7,686
Operating expenses:
Selling, general and administrative expenses	8,262	5,312
Amortization of intangibles	2,641	2,400
Total operating expenses	10,903	7,712
Operating loss	(54)	(26)
Interest income, net	721	623
Other income, net	2,928	1,139
Income from continuing operations before income taxes and equity method loss	3,595	1,736
Benefit from income taxes	1,903	1,633
Loss from equity method investees, net of taxes	(1,433)	0
Net income from continuing operations	4,065	3,369
Loss from discontinued operations, net of taxes	0	(395)
Net income	4,065	2,974
Net loss attributable to non-controlling interests in consolidated entities
Continuing operations	326	20
Discontinued operations	0	316
Net income attributable to Steel Excel Inc.	$ 4,391	$ 3,310
Basic income (loss) per share attributable to Steel Excel Inc.:
Net income from continuing operations (in dollars per share)	$ 0.37	$ 0.26
Loss from discontinued operations, net of taxes (in dollars per share)	$ 0.00	$ (0.01)
Net income (in dollars per share)	$ 0.37	$ 0.26
Diluted income (loss) per share attributable to Steel Excel Inc.:
Net income from continuing operations (in dollars per share)	$ 0.37	$ 0.26
Loss from discontinued operations, net of taxes (in dollars per share)	$ 0.00	$ (0.01)
Net income (in dollars per share)	$ 0.37	$ 0.26
Shares used in computing income (loss) per share:
Basic (in Shares)	11,981	12,886
Diluted (in Shares)	11,999	12,909