The assets in question are not money / property / diploma / work but skill, passion, and other self investments. Bill Gates / Mark Zuckerberg was not the best programmer in the world, they dropped out of Harvard not because they were stupid, but they found a field that they mastered but not taught in school. They consider their own skills / skills as an investment.
Whatever they learn should be useful for their lives and whatever they do should give better results. Formal education may improve our sense of security, but sooner or later you will find it all irrelevant, skill / ability remains the best investment. In life people will not ask you what your value / GPA is but what you can give them. What value can you provide for others?
