If you get rich from incentive stock options you have technically been working for yourself.
The underlying gist of “You’ll NEVER get rich by working for someone else” is that you should look for opportunities to build wealth that’s not tied to hour-by-hour labor. You can do this by owning your own business, or by looking for ways to own equity in valuable assets beyond your regular job.
I agree with your main point that you want a job where your compensation is not directly correlated to hours worked. I'd still argue that that's a very different argument than "you can't work for someone else and get rich" or that getting paid in stock options, as an employee with a boss, is really "working for yourself".
I mean, enterprise software sales folks can get rich being paid on commission, "influencers" can get rich being paid by affiliate links, and none of them have any ownership in the business.
The underlying gist of “You’ll NEVER get rich by working for someone else” is that you should look for opportunities to build wealth that’s not tied to hour-by-hour labor. You can do this by owning your own business, or by looking for ways to own equity in valuable assets beyond your regular job.