I don't know if anyone can call getting a PhD a "fast path" to these things. It's just a "virtually guaranteed" path. For example, at Goog most PhDs are hired

I don't know if anyone can call getting a PhD a "fast path" to these things. It's just a "virtually guaranteed" path. For example, at Goog most PhDs are hired at L5 "senior" positions. BSc (and many MSc) are typically hired at L3. Assuming they are the kind of person who could have done a PhD, they will get to L5 within 4-5 years, fewer for some, with a job ladder (read "promotion criteria") that reads almost exactly like point 1) and a committee of 10 tired, skeptical people they've never met before deciding whether they've demonstrated it for "sufficiently long" to warrant promotion. All the while, the BSc is making more than your advisor and gaining experience that is 100% relevant to their career. Not to say that PhD vs "a few years in industry" are equivalent in all respects, of course, but I would not at all say that the PhD is the fast path towards the skills you're calling out here.