Basis of Presentation Merger (Details) - USD ($) $ / shares in Units, $ in Billions	Jun. 30, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015	Oct. 12, 2015
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Common stock, par value (in usd per share)	$ 0.01	$ 0.01
Denali
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Resulting Percent of VMware which represents Merger consideration			53.00%
Economic interest of VMware Parent will retain			28.00%
Percent of EMC's interest in VMware which represents Merger consideration			65.00%
Business Acquisition, Share Price			$ 24.05
Common stock, par value (in usd per share)			$ 0.01
Investment Owned, Balance, Shares			222,966,450
Tracker Stock Fractional Share			0.111
Termination Fee Paid by EMC to Denali			$ 2.5
Termination Fee Paid by Denali to EMC			4.0
Alternative Termination Fee Paid by Denali to EMC			$ 6.0
VMware
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Noncontrolling Interest, Ownership Percentage by Parent	81.00%