Most of these engineers are motivated by accomplishment. I very much doubt any of them would describe their work as soul draining.
On your deathbed you are likely not going to look back favorably at all the years you put in for bigcorp advancing the industry. Even if you do have a few white papers published, so what? Effectively nobody will remember them in 10 years anyway. Trying to find meaning by working for others doesn't pan out for most people. Bank the cash, get out when you can.