It's a little late in the game to buy out now
Hello.
In an American movie, the boss of a law firm is going to kill his subordinate, Eddie, who's not a partner at the firm: "You gotta pay your own way, Eddie. A little late in the game to buy out now."
Obviously, he uses "late in the game to buy out" metaphorically, but could you tell me what it means literally? Especially, the phrasal verb "buy out", it just doesn't make much to me here.
Thank you.