Segment Reporting - Condensed Statements of Operations (Details) - USD ($) $ in Millions	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2022	Mar. 31, 2021
Segment Reporting, Reconciling Item for Operating Profit (Loss) from Segment to Consolidated [Line Items]
Net sales	$ 2,968	$ 2,218
Other revenues from operations	159	152
Net gain from investment activities	939	1,006
Interest and dividend income	42	26
Other (loss) income, net	(24)	(18)
Total revenues	4,084	3,384
Cost of goods sold	2,538	2,139
Other expenses from operations	128	118
Selling, general and administrative	301	316
Interest expense	134	195
Total Expenses	3,101	2,768
Income (loss) before income tax benefit (expense)	983	616
Income tax expense	(98)	(17)
Net income (loss)	885	599
Less: net income (loss) attributable to non-controlling interests	562	437
Net income (loss) attributable to Icahn Enterprises	323	162
Capital expenditures	55	47
Depreciation and amortization	122	127
Investment Segment
Segment Reporting, Reconciling Item for Operating Profit (Loss) from Segment to Consolidated [Line Items]
Net sales	0	0
Other revenues from operations	0	0
Net gain from investment activities	908	939
Interest and dividend income	40	25
Other (loss) income, net	(17)	(21)
Total revenues	931	943
Cost of goods sold	0	0
Other expenses from operations	0	0
Selling, general and administrative	4	5
Interest expense	32	76
Total Expenses	36	81
Income (loss) before income tax benefit (expense)	895	862
Income tax expense	0	0
Net income (loss)	895	862
Less: net income (loss) attributable to non-controlling interests	481	471
Net income (loss) attributable to Icahn Enterprises	414	391
Capital expenditures	0	0
Depreciation and amortization	0	0
Energy Segment
Segment Reporting, Reconciling Item for Operating Profit (Loss) from Segment to Consolidated [Line Items]
Net sales	2,373	1,463
Other revenues from operations	0	0
Net gain from investment activities	0	62
Interest and dividend income	0	0
Other (loss) income, net	(10)	7
Total revenues	2,363	1,532
Cost of goods sold	2,123	1,579
Other expenses from operations	0	0
Selling, general and administrative	45	35
Interest expense	24	31
Total Expenses	2,192	1,645
Income (loss) before income tax benefit (expense)	171	(113)
Income tax expense	(30)	46
Net income (loss)	141	(67)
Less: net income (loss) attributable to non-controlling interests	80	(34)
Net income (loss) attributable to Icahn Enterprises	61	(33)
Capital expenditures	26	34
Depreciation and amortization	83	82
Automotive Segment
Segment Reporting, Reconciling Item for Operating Profit (Loss) from Segment to Consolidated [Line Items]
Net sales	407	456
Other revenues from operations	147	142
Net gain from investment activities	0	0
Interest and dividend income	0	0
Other (loss) income, net	2	(1)
Total revenues	556	597
Cost of goods sold	267	313
Other expenses from operations	117	112
Selling, general and administrative	208	227
Interest expense	1	3
Total Expenses	593	655
Income (loss) before income tax benefit (expense)	(37)	(58)
Income tax expense	9	12
Net income (loss)	(28)	(46)
Less: net income (loss) attributable to non-controlling interests	0	0
Net income (loss) attributable to Icahn Enterprises	(28)	(46)
Capital expenditures	21	8
Depreciation and amortization	20	22
Food Packaging Segment
Segment Reporting, Reconciling Item for Operating Profit (Loss) from Segment to Consolidated [Line Items]
Net sales	101	101
Other revenues from operations	0	0
Net gain from investment activities	0	0
Interest and dividend income	0	0
Other (loss) income, net	1	(6)
Total revenues	102	95
Cost of goods sold	81	80
Other expenses from operations	0	0
Selling, general and administrative	13	13
Interest expense	1	2
Total Expenses	95	95
Income (loss) before income tax benefit (expense)	7	0
Income tax expense	(1)	(1)
Net income (loss)	6	(1)
Less: net income (loss) attributable to non-controlling interests	1	0
Net income (loss) attributable to Icahn Enterprises	5	(1)
Capital expenditures	4	2
Depreciation and amortization	7	7
Real Estate Segment
Segment Reporting, Reconciling Item for Operating Profit (Loss) from Segment to Consolidated [Line Items]
Net sales	17	8
Other revenues from operations	11	9
Net gain from investment activities	0	0
Interest and dividend income	0	0
Other (loss) income, net	0	0
Total revenues	28	17
Cost of goods sold	10	7
Other expenses from operations	11	6
Selling, general and administrative	4	5
Interest expense	0	0
Total Expenses	25	18
Income (loss) before income tax benefit (expense)	3	(1)
Income tax expense	0	0
Net income (loss)	3	(1)
Less: net income (loss) attributable to non-controlling interests	0	0
Net income (loss) attributable to Icahn Enterprises	3	(1)
Capital expenditures	4	1
Depreciation and amortization	3	3
Home Fashion Segment
Segment Reporting, Reconciling Item for Operating Profit (Loss) from Segment to Consolidated [Line Items]
Net sales	55	41
Other revenues from operations	0	0
Net gain from investment activities	0	0
Interest and dividend income	0	0
Other (loss) income, net	0	0
Total revenues	55	41
Cost of goods sold	45	34
Other expenses from operations	0	0
Selling, general and administrative	11	11
Interest expense	0	0
Total Expenses	56	45
Income (loss) before income tax benefit (expense)	(1)	(4)
Income tax expense	0	0
Net income (loss)	(1)	(4)
Less: net income (loss) attributable to non-controlling interests	0	0
Net income (loss) attributable to Icahn Enterprises	(1)	(4)
Capital expenditures	0	1
Depreciation and amortization	2	2
Pharma Segment
Segment Reporting, Reconciling Item for Operating Profit (Loss) from Segment to Consolidated [Line Items]
Net sales	15	29
Other revenues from operations	1	1
Net gain from investment activities	0	0
Interest and dividend income	0	0
Other (loss) income, net	1	0
Total revenues	17	30
Cost of goods sold	12	14
Other expenses from operations	0	0
Selling, general and administrative	10	8
Interest expense	0	0
Total Expenses	22	22
Income (loss) before income tax benefit (expense)	(5)	8
Income tax expense	0	0
Net income (loss)	(5)	8
Less: net income (loss) attributable to non-controlling interests	0	0
Net income (loss) attributable to Icahn Enterprises	(5)	8
Capital expenditures	0	0
Depreciation and amortization	7	7
Metals Segment
Segment Reporting, Reconciling Item for Operating Profit (Loss) from Segment to Consolidated [Line Items]
Net sales	0	120
Other revenues from operations	0	0
Net gain from investment activities	0	0
Interest and dividend income	0	0
Other (loss) income, net	0	1
Total revenues	0	121
Cost of goods sold	0	112
Other expenses from operations	0	0
Selling, general and administrative	0	4
Interest expense	0	0
Total Expenses	0	116
Income (loss) before income tax benefit (expense)	0	5
Income tax expense	0	0
Net income (loss)	0	5
Less: net income (loss) attributable to non-controlling interests	0	0
Net income (loss) attributable to Icahn Enterprises	0	5
Capital expenditures	0	1
Depreciation and amortization	0	4
Holding Company
Segment Reporting, Reconciling Item for Operating Profit (Loss) from Segment to Consolidated [Line Items]
Net sales	0	0
Other revenues from operations	0	0
Net gain from investment activities	31	5
Interest and dividend income	2	1
Other (loss) income, net	(1)	2
Total revenues	32	8
Cost of goods sold	0	0
Other expenses from operations	0	0
Selling, general and administrative	6	8
Interest expense	76	83
Total Expenses	82	91
Income (loss) before income tax benefit (expense)	(50)	(83)
Income tax expense	(76)	(74)
Net income (loss)	(126)	(157)
Less: net income (loss) attributable to non-controlling interests	0	0
Net income (loss) attributable to Icahn Enterprises	(126)	(157)
Capital expenditures	0	0
Depreciation and amortization	$ 0	$ 0