Well look at Trump and you have your answer from the reverse appoach

Intelligence has nothing at all to do with level of education.

No, I was smart before I was ever college educated...but with one caveat: college does broaden and deepen your experience in ways being the smartest kid in the room cannot. That is the value of a liberal education in a STEM world.

Intelligence is an innate capability one is born with. Education will help sharpen that skill. But education cannot give you the capability, only the knowledge.

There is intelligence. And there is education. Both of these things may co-exist, but often not.

Look, I can write a brief really well. I would not know how to fix a car. These two things are differently intelligent (although, in a zombie apocalypse, fixing a car would be more useful).

My point is that a college education is a chimera - the idea that it's more than it is. You sound like you've evaded that.

I have seen it go both ways. I knew someone in the 70's that was completely self trained machinist that made all kinds of things for the rail road. I have also seen teams of ivy league schooled experts who read trendy magazines come into several companies and run them into the ground. It often comes down to barriers that person was not able to overcome but learned anyway vs a person who has so many resources that no barrier can prevent him from attaining a position he is completely unable to handle and immune to any blame for their mistakes.

Not at all.
I have a tested I.Q. of 137 and hold no degrees. I took the classes I needed to accomplish my goals, and succeeded.
My ex has two degrees and is a total failure.

One of my best friends was a software engineer making 200k per year and left it to go back to law school and is now an attorney, and he calls me the smartest guy he knows.
Not bragging, just using as an example.

No. Many people drop out of college and are still successful.