I mean you're looking at a few edge cases here. Most of us will tend to land in the average and never see that level of wild success. Yes, with the right skills you can get a well paying job without a degree but on the whole, people who get a higher education end up doing better financially.

https://www.bls.gov/careeroutlook/2023/data-on-display/education-pays.htm

They either had rich parents with rich connections, or had incredibly loyal, highly skilled friends, like Jobs had Wozniak.

Oprah Winfrey attended Tennessee State University and has a degree in communications