I’d say it is — but not in the way the phrase is usually intended.
An “old boys’ club” suggests exclusion, nepotism, and the hoarding of opportunity for the privileged few. Freemasonry is exclusive, yes — but it excludes only those who are unworthy, not those who are unconnected. It is not a club for the old, the rich, or the well-born. It is a club for men who are willing to work upon themselves.
That said, Freemasonry is a network. It always has been. In the 18th century, lodges in London, Edinburgh, and Philadelphia were meeting grounds for the men who were building the modern world. Merchants, printers, inventors, and statesmen gathered not primarily to trade, but to improve themselves — and the trading happened naturally as a byproduct of trust. When you have watched a man deliver ritual from memory, serve his lodge through difficult years, and give anonymously to charity, you do not need to review his resume before doing business with him.
The “old boys’ club” label implies that the network is closed to outsiders. Freemasonry is not. Any man of good character, sound judgment, and sincere intent may petition for membership. The door is guarded, but it is not barred. The network is open to anyone willing to pay the price of admission — and the price is not money. It is the commitment to become a better man.
In that sense, Freemasonry is the original networking organization. But it is also something far older and far more serious. It is a brotherhood bound by obligation, tested by labor, and united by a shared pursuit of moral perfection. If that makes it an old boys’ club, then it is a club worth joining.