You don't now either.... I'm an academic scientist and more than a few times I have looked up the CVs of well respected researchers whose work I really admired,

You don't now either.... I'm an academic scientist and more than a few times I have looked up the CVs of well respected researchers whose work I really admired, and was shocked to discover they had no PhD, yet were still in a permanent PI position leading a well funded research effort of some type. There are a small number of people in academia that are so good that they are effectively exempted from the requirement for traditional credentials- because everyone in the field knows who they are and will make a custom position for them anywhere that bypasses traditional requirements and recruitment.