I wouldn't call a top engineer at a top company a "regular employee". Anyone with $1M+/yr in stock from their company is also a fringe outlier. Top talent at medium-sized companies are not making that, and regular rank-and-file at FAANG is not making that. I think the "NEVER" in the article is really a "statistically never". Yes, you can be pedantic (welcome to HN) and point out a few outliers, but it's still "never," in the sense of I'll Never hit the lottery.