Acquisition Narrative (Details) (USD $)	0 Months Ended	12 Months Ended					12 Months Ended				0 Months Ended	12 Months Ended	0 Months Ended				0 Months Ended	12 Months Ended		0 Months Ended	4 Months Ended
	May 24, 2012	Dec. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2010	Dec. 31, 2012 Energy Segment [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Energy Segment [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Automotive Segment [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Automotive Segment [Member]	Dec. 31, 2010 Automotive Segment [Member]	Sep. 01, 2012 BERU [Member] Automotive Segment [Member]	May 04, 2012 CVR Energy, Inc. [Member] cash_contingent_payments	Dec. 31, 2012 CVR Energy, Inc. [Member]	May 04, 2012 CVR Energy, Inc. [Member] Maximum [Member]	May 04, 2012 CVR Energy, Inc. [Member] Energy Segment [Member]	May 04, 2012 CVR Energy, Inc. [Member] Energy Segment [Member] Petroleum [Member]	May 04, 2012 CVR Energy, Inc. [Member] Energy Segment [Member] Nitrogen Fertilizer [Member]	May 04, 2012 CVR Partners, LP [Member] Energy Segment [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 IEP Energy [Member] CVR Energy, Inc. [Member]	May 04, 2012 IEP Energy [Member] CVR Energy, Inc. [Member]	May 04, 2012 IEP Parties [Member] CVR Energy, Inc. [Member]	May 03, 2012 CVR Energy, Inc. [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Share price, CVR acquisition (in ones)											$ 30
Common shares of CVR tendered											48,112,317
Number of cash contingent payment rights (in ones)											1
Percentage of CVR shares tendered																			55.00%
Percentage of equity ownership in subsidiary																	70.00%	82.00%		70.00%
Solicitation period from third party to acquire	60 days
Transaction fees, CVR acquisition												$ 1,000,000
Acquisition-date fair value of equity interest in CVR held by IEP Energy immediately before the acquisition date											378,000,000
Business combination, step acquisition, eqiuty interest in acquiree, price per share used to determine fair value (in ones)											30.05
Step acquisition remeasurement loss, CVR acuisition											(1,000,000)
Net gain from investment activities		343,000,000	1,905,000,000	814,000,000	0		0	0	0												102,000,000
Goodwill		2,082,000,000	1,127,000,000		930,000,000	0	1,142,000,000	1,097,000,000
Allocation of goodwill resulting from acquisition														930,000,000	472,000,000	458,000,000
EBITDA multiple used to calculate fair value of non-controlling interest in CVR													6.5
Pro forma adjustment to eliminate equity earnings in consolidated subsidiary, CVR acquisition												102
Cash paid for acquisition										52,000,000	1,754,000,000
Purchase price allcoation to definite-lived intangible assets, BERU acquisition										22,000,000
Purchase price allcoation to indefinite-lived intangible assets, BERU acquisition										$ 1,000,000