Net Income Per LP Unit Table (Details) (USD $) In Millions, except Share data, unless otherwise specified	0 Months Ended	3 Months Ended				9 Months Ended				0 Months Ended							1 Months Ended	3 Months Ended	9 Months Ended		1 Months Ended	0 Months Ended
	Jan. 20, 2012	Sep. 30, 2012		Sep. 30, 2011		Sep. 30, 2012		Sep. 30, 2011		Aug. 31, 2012 Depositary Units [Member]	Jul. 31, 2012 Depositary Units [Member]	May 31, 2012 Depositary Units [Member]	Apr. 30, 2012 Depositary Units [Member]	Mar. 30, 2012 Depositary Units [Member]	Feb. 28, 2012 Depositary Units [Member]	Dec. 01, 2011 Depositary Units [Member]	Jan. 20, 2012 Depositary Units [Member]	Sep. 30, 2011 Depositary Units [Member]	Sep. 30, 2011 Depositary Units [Member]	Dec. 27, 2011 Depositary Units [Member]	Jan. 20, 2012 Principal Owners and Affiliates [Member] Depositary Units [Member]	Nov. 02, 2012 Dividend Declared [Member] Depositary Units [Member]	Oct. 31, 2012 Dividend Declared [Member] Depositary Units [Member]
Earnings Per LP Unit [Line Items]
Net income (loss) attributable to Icahn Enterprises		$ 85		$ (39)		$ 378		$ 490
Net income attributable to parent, allocated to general partner before traditional parntership allocation		(6)	[1]	0	[1]	(10)	[1]	0	[1]
Net income attributable to parent, subject to allocation amongst partners		79		(39)		368		490
Income attributable to Icahn Enterprises allocable to limited partners (98.01% allocation)		78		(38)		361		480
Basic income (loss) per LP unit		0.76		(0.44)		3.61		5.52
Basic weighted average LP units outstanding (in units)		102,000,000		87,000,000		100,000,000		87,000,000
Dilutive effect of variable rate convertible notes, Income		0		0		17		17
Dilutive effect of variable rate convertible notes, Units		0		0		5,000,000		5,000,000
Diluted income (loss) per LP unit		0.76		(0.44)		3.60		5.40
Diluted weighted average LP units outstanding (in units)		102,000,000		87,000,000		105,000,000		92,000,000
Antidilutive Securities Excluded from Computation of Earnings Per Share, Amount		5,000,000		5,000,000
Distribution made to limited partner depositary unitholders, cash and depositary unit distributions declared, per unit											$ 0.35		$ 0.35		$ 0.35							$ 0.35
Distribution made to limited partner depositary unitholders, cash distributions declared, per unit											$ 0.10		$ 0.10		$ 0.10							$ 0.10
Distribution made to limited partner depositary unitholders, depositary unit distributions declared, per unit											$ 0.25		$ 0.25		$ 0.25							$ 0.25
Ratio of unit distributed per depositary unit											0.006277		0.005357		0.006269								0.005978
Units issued as a unit distribution										627,651		532,190		619,585
Impact of unit distributions on prior years' income per LP unit																		$ 0.00	$ 0.06
Intended proceeds from rights offering																500
Rights received per depositary unit held																				0.15881
Rights' subscription price per depositary unit																				$ 36.7933
Aggregate depositary units distributed in connection with rights offering																	13,590,238				12,995,584
Proceeds from rights offering																	$ 500
Cancellation of treasury units (in units)	1,137,200

[1] Amounts represent net income allocable to the general partner for the period May 5, 2012 through August 23, 2012, the period in which Mr. Icahn and his affiliates' ownership in IEP Energy, other than Icahn Enterprises' ownership, were considered under common control. On August 24, 2012, Mr. Icahn and his affiliates contributed this interest to us in exchange for our depositary units. See Note 4, "Related Party Transactions-Energy," for further discussion regarding this transaction.