There are many ways to acquire skills and most skills are developed through practice and experience. Therefore, a person who does not go to school or has no (formal) education can also acquire skills. But for these people, there will be many limitations in developing skills and careers because they do not have in-depth knowledge.
A person with skills but no education (degree) may have an initial advantage but in the long run, they will not be able to compete with people who have both education and skills. If we pay attention, we will see that many recruiting companies prioritize skilled people but mainly only in low-level positions. While higher level positions always require candidates to have both qualifications and skills. So you are right, both knowledge and skills are important and necessary.
Simply put, people who only have skills without formal education will always be employees, and they may not have the opportunity to occupy certain positions, which usually require someone to meet qualifications. Unless they inherit a company from their family, the story will be different, but I think that rarely happens.
Formal education has certification and makes someone entitled to have a certain degree, which will be proof that they meet the standards desired by a company. When occupying a position, what is needed is not only skills, but a thorough understanding of how to take a policy and implement it. I imagine formal education and skills are like two sides of a coin that complement each other and are equally important.
And thats the reality on which even if you do put up yourself into a company but there's no way that you can be able to put up yourself into those higher positions. Why? Because one of the main qualifications will be that you do need a bachelors degree on which if you are someone who didnt finished up college then you would definitely be missing out that opportunity and thats why you would be that still remaining at your current position until you do get old. There might be some exemptions though and it would be that entirely depending on your boss or the company because there are certain situations that there are those who had been promoted despite on having those lack of credentials but of course it will be that not giving out guarantees that it will happen into you and thats why its always better that you should be finishing your studies first and then next trying out to hover yourself on learning up different set of skills.