It would be true in that he wasn't on the payroll but withdrew money from the company directly. Or at least something like that. Him saying that is probably also a cudgel he uses to rhetorically discipline his workers for not raising their pay. Then when they don't know how to respond he reads it as their reverence for him.

Even if it did, it's just bragging he had so much wealth that being unemployed for 7 years made no difference to his quality of life.