Segment Information (Narrative) (Details) (USD $)	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2012	Mar. 31, 2011
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Net securities gains	$ 424,936,000	$ 2,303,000
Interest expense	28,868,000	28,977,000
Corporate [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Interest expense	25,829,000
Beef Processing Services [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Interest expense	3,016,000
Domestic Real Estate [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Gain on forgiveness of debt		81,848,000
Leucadia Other Operations [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Pre-tax losses of investigation and evaluation of various energy related projects	5,871,000	7,781,000
Government grants reimbursement		1,990,000
Fortescue [Member] | Corporate [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Net securities gains	$ 417,887,000