Condensed Balance Sheets By Reporting Segment (Details) - USD ($) $ in Millions	Sep. 30, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014	Sep. 30, 2014	Dec. 31, 2013
ASSETS
Cash and cash equivalents	$ 2,041	$ 2,912	$ 3,080	$ 3,262
Cash held at consolidated affiliated partnerships and restricted cash	1,441	1,435
Investments	13,661	14,500
Accounts receivable, net	1,876	1,691
Inventories, net	2,318	1,879
Property, plant and equipment, net	9,831	8,955
Goodwill and intangible assets, net	3,207	3,088
Other assets	2,077	1,320
Total assets	36,452	35,780
LIABILITIES AND EQUITY
Accounts payable, accrued expenses and other liabilities	4,931	4,877
Securities sold, not yet purchased, at fair value	1,237	337
Due to brokers	4,504	5,197
Post-employment benefit liability	1,312	1,391
Debt	12,182	11,588
Total assets	24,166	23,390
Equity attributable to Icahn Enterprises	5,140	5,443
Equity attributable to non-controlling interests	7,146	6,947
Total equity	12,286	12,390	13,872	13,309
Total liabilities and equity	36,452	35,780
Investment Segment [Member]
ASSETS
Cash and cash equivalents	11	2
Cash held at consolidated affiliated partnerships and restricted cash	1,366	1,366
Investments	13,150	13,961
Accounts receivable, net	0	0
Inventories, net	0	0
Property, plant and equipment, net	0	0
Goodwill and intangible assets, net	0	0
Other assets	947	131
Total assets	15,474	15,460
LIABILITIES AND EQUITY
Accounts payable, accrued expenses and other liabilities	686	864
Securities sold, not yet purchased, at fair value	1,237	337
Due to brokers	4,504	5,197
Post-employment benefit liability	0	0
Debt	0	0
Total assets	6,427	6,398
Equity attributable to Icahn Enterprises	4,168	4,284
Equity attributable to non-controlling interests	4,879	4,778
Total equity	9,047	9,062
Total liabilities and equity	15,474	15,460
Automotive Segment [Member]
ASSETS
Cash and cash equivalents	235	332
Cash held at consolidated affiliated partnerships and restricted cash	0	0
Investments	280	269
Accounts receivable, net	1,529	1,356
Inventories, net	1,675	1,215
Property, plant and equipment, net	2,379	2,160
Goodwill and intangible assets, net	1,881	1,744
Other assets	465	453
Total assets	8,444	7,529
LIABILITIES AND EQUITY
Accounts payable, accrued expenses and other liabilities	2,137	1,933
Securities sold, not yet purchased, at fair value	0	0
Due to brokers	0	0
Post-employment benefit liability	1,253	1,328
Debt	3,025	2,690
Total assets	6,415	5,951
Equity attributable to Icahn Enterprises	1,655	1,231
Equity attributable to non-controlling interests	374	347
Total equity	2,029	1,578
Total liabilities and equity	8,444	7,529
Energy Segment [Member]
ASSETS
Cash and cash equivalents	1,012	754
Cash held at consolidated affiliated partnerships and restricted cash	0	0
Investments	0	77
Accounts receivable, net	133	137
Inventories, net	285	330
Property, plant and equipment, net	2,691	2,692
Goodwill and intangible assets, net	1,170	1,184
Other assets	119	160
Total assets	5,410	5,334
LIABILITIES AND EQUITY
Accounts payable, accrued expenses and other liabilities	1,402	1,471
Securities sold, not yet purchased, at fair value	0	0
Due to brokers	0	0
Post-employment benefit liability	0	0
Debt	674	675
Total assets	2,076	2,146
Equity attributable to Icahn Enterprises	1,751	1,612
Equity attributable to non-controlling interests	1,583	1,576
Total equity	3,334	3,188
Total liabilities and equity	5,410	5,334
Metals Segment [Member]
ASSETS
Cash and cash equivalents	6	19
Cash held at consolidated affiliated partnerships and restricted cash	4	4
Investments	0	0
Accounts receivable, net	39	51
Inventories, net	53	67
Property, plant and equipment, net	142	144
Goodwill and intangible assets, net	7	8
Other assets	23	22
Total assets	274	315
LIABILITIES AND EQUITY
Accounts payable, accrued expenses and other liabilities	49	60
Securities sold, not yet purchased, at fair value	0	0
Due to brokers	0	0
Post-employment benefit liability	2	2
Debt	1	3
Total assets	52	65
Equity attributable to Icahn Enterprises	222	250
Equity attributable to non-controlling interests	0	0
Total equity	222	250
Total liabilities and equity	274	315
Railcar Segment [Member]
ASSETS
Cash and cash equivalents	271	412
Cash held at consolidated affiliated partnerships and restricted cash	45	35
Investments	29	29
Accounts receivable, net	52	41
Inventories, net	126	117
Property, plant and equipment, net	2,741	2,376
Goodwill and intangible assets, net	7	7
Other assets	99	103
Total assets	3,370	3,120
LIABILITIES AND EQUITY
Accounts payable, accrued expenses and other liabilities	319	294
Securities sold, not yet purchased, at fair value	0	0
Due to brokers	0	0
Post-employment benefit liability	8	9
Debt	2,361	2,133
Total assets	2,688	2,436
Equity attributable to Icahn Enterprises	726	711
Equity attributable to non-controlling interests	(44)	(27)
Total equity	682	684
Total liabilities and equity	3,370	3,120
Gaming Segment [Member]
ASSETS
Cash and cash equivalents	223	196
Cash held at consolidated affiliated partnerships and restricted cash	14	16
Investments	29	33
Accounts receivable, net	9	9
Inventories, net	0	0
Property, plant and equipment, net	743	719
Goodwill and intangible assets, net	74	75
Other assets	205	212
Total assets	1,297	1,260
LIABILITIES AND EQUITY
Accounts payable, accrued expenses and other liabilities	135	130
Securities sold, not yet purchased, at fair value	0	0
Due to brokers	0	0
Post-employment benefit liability	0	0
Debt	293	295
Total assets	428	425
Equity attributable to Icahn Enterprises	601	578
Equity attributable to non-controlling interests	268	257
Total equity	869	835
Total liabilities and equity	1,297	1,260
Mining Segment [Member]
ASSETS
Cash and cash equivalents	28	0
Cash held at consolidated affiliated partnerships and restricted cash	1	0
Investments	0	0
Accounts receivable, net	4	0
Inventories, net	37	0
Property, plant and equipment, net	295	0
Goodwill and intangible assets, net	6	0
Other assets	20	0
Total assets	391	0
LIABILITIES AND EQUITY
Accounts payable, accrued expenses and other liabilities	48	0
Securities sold, not yet purchased, at fair value	0	0
Due to brokers	0	0
Post-employment benefit liability	0	0
Debt	39	0
Total assets	87	0
Equity attributable to Icahn Enterprises	234	0
Equity attributable to non-controlling interests	70	0
Total equity	304	0
Total liabilities and equity	391	0
Food Packaging Segment [Member]
ASSETS
Cash and cash equivalents	43	39
Cash held at consolidated affiliated partnerships and restricted cash	1	1
Investments	0	0
Accounts receivable, net	65	63
Inventories, net	76	77
Property, plant and equipment, net	151	154
Goodwill and intangible assets, net	8	9
Other assets	86	93
Total assets	430	436
LIABILITIES AND EQUITY
Accounts payable, accrued expenses and other liabilities	66	64
Securities sold, not yet purchased, at fair value	0	0
Due to brokers	0	0
Post-employment benefit liability	49	52
Debt	271	274
Total assets	386	390
Equity attributable to Icahn Enterprises	28	30
Equity attributable to non-controlling interests	16	16
Total equity	44	46
Total liabilities and equity	430	436
Real Estate Segment [Member]
ASSETS
Cash and cash equivalents	16	24
Cash held at consolidated affiliated partnerships and restricted cash	2	2
Investments	0	0
Accounts receivable, net	7	4
Inventories, net	0	0
Property, plant and equipment, net	614	633
Goodwill and intangible assets, net	51	58
Other assets	18	24
Total assets	708	745
LIABILITIES AND EQUITY
Accounts payable, accrued expenses and other liabilities	21	20
Securities sold, not yet purchased, at fair value	0	0
Due to brokers	0	0
Post-employment benefit liability	0	0
Debt	29	32
Total assets	50	52
Equity attributable to Icahn Enterprises	658	693
Equity attributable to non-controlling interests	0	0
Total equity	658	693
Total liabilities and equity	708	745
Home Fashion Segment [Member]
ASSETS
Cash and cash equivalents	14	11
Cash held at consolidated affiliated partnerships and restricted cash	5	8
Investments	0	0
Accounts receivable, net	38	30
Inventories, net	66	73
Property, plant and equipment, net	72	74
Goodwill and intangible assets, net	3	3
Other assets	9	9
Total assets	207	208
LIABILITIES AND EQUITY
Accounts payable, accrued expenses and other liabilities	30	28
Securities sold, not yet purchased, at fair value	0	0
Due to brokers	0	0
Post-employment benefit liability	0	0
Debt	0	0
Total assets	30	28
Equity attributable to Icahn Enterprises	177	180
Equity attributable to non-controlling interests	0	0
Total equity	177	180
Total liabilities and equity	207	208
Holding Company [Member]
ASSETS
Cash and cash equivalents	182	1,123
Cash held at consolidated affiliated partnerships and restricted cash	3	3
Investments	173	131
Accounts receivable, net	0	0
Inventories, net	0	0
Property, plant and equipment, net	3	3
Goodwill and intangible assets, net	0	0
Other assets	86	113
Total assets	447	1,373
LIABILITIES AND EQUITY
Accounts payable, accrued expenses and other liabilities	38	13
Securities sold, not yet purchased, at fair value	0	0
Due to brokers	0	0
Post-employment benefit liability	0	0
Debt	5,489	5,486
Total assets	5,527	5,499
Equity attributable to Icahn Enterprises	(5,080)	(4,126)
Equity attributable to non-controlling interests	0	0
Total equity	(5,080)	(4,126)
Total liabilities and equity	447	1,373
Holding Company [Member]
ASSETS
Cash and cash equivalents	2,041	2,912	3,080	3,262
Cash held at consolidated affiliated partnerships and restricted cash	1,441	1,435
Investments	13,661	14,500
Accounts receivable, net	1,876	1,691
Inventories, net	2,318	1,879
Property, plant and equipment, net	9,831	8,955
Total assets	36,476	35,803
LIABILITIES AND EQUITY
Securities sold, not yet purchased, at fair value	1,237	337
Due to brokers	4,504	5,197
Post-employment benefit liability	1,312	1,391
Debt	12,182	11,588
Total assets	24,166	23,390
Equity attributable to Icahn Enterprises	5,164	5,466
Equity attributable to non-controlling interests	7,146	6,947
Total equity	12,310	12,413	$ 13,895	$ 13,331
Total liabilities and equity	36,476	35,803
Holding Company [Member] | Investment Segment [Member]
ASSETS
Total assets	15,474	15,460
Holding Company [Member] | Automotive Segment [Member]
ASSETS
Total assets	8,444	7,529
Holding Company [Member] | Energy Segment [Member]
ASSETS
Total assets	5,410	5,334
Holding Company [Member] | Metals Segment [Member]
ASSETS
Total assets	274	315
Holding Company [Member] | Railcar Segment [Member]
ASSETS
Total assets	3,370	3,120
Holding Company [Member] | Gaming Segment [Member]
ASSETS
Total assets	1,297	1,260
Holding Company [Member] | Mining Segment [Member]
ASSETS
Total assets	391	0
Holding Company [Member] | Food Packaging Segment [Member]
ASSETS
Total assets	430	436
Holding Company [Member] | Real Estate Segment [Member]
ASSETS
Total assets	708	745
Holding Company [Member] | Home Fashion Segment [Member]
ASSETS
Total assets	207	208
Holding Company [Member] | Holding Company [Member]
ASSETS
Total assets	$ 471	$ 1,396