Is it possible to have done so much work prior to PhD and "automatically" get a PhD?

This is partly inspired by this question. Is it generally possible for someone to have done so much work before their PhD that they "automatically" get a PhD?

The work might have been done during undergraduate, master's, during employment at a company, or during free time. The metric could be publishing in journals/conferences, or whatever metric the advisor/university deems appropriate. By "automatically" I mean the student doesn't really have to do much work in PhD -- maybe, graduating in 1 year or less.

Also, are there famous cases for this?