People who go on to have an outsized impact on the world don't usually participate in programs that are neither useful to their careers (to the point of being detrimental) nor transformative to their lives.

If a Harvard MBA is essentially pointless like you describe - people go into it and come out the same - the only reason to pursue it is to buy into the network.

Hence, perhaps, the "Golden Passport" nomenclature. You'd also notice the author didn't write "Golden Ticket", which I dare say, is an interesting freudian slip.