Just because your in a better situation, and are on the way to pulling yourself up out of wage slavery doesn't mean that you're not still in the situation that you're in.
I had an analogy here to drug dealers working their way out of a ghetto, and decided it was slightly hyperbolic.
> Wage slavery refers to a situation where a person's livelihood depends on wages, especially in a total and immediate way.
So, yes, someone who's independently wealthy is not a wage slave, but someone who is self-employed or who owns a significant stake in the business they work for is also not a wage slave. It's about the boss/worker relationship, the power an employer has over an employee.
I had an analogy here to drug dealers working their way out of a ghetto, and decided it was slightly hyperbolic.