There are some companies that are good for their perks and some that are good for their salaries.
AN definitely is a company good for perks so an expected salary is 0, you were lucky with that 1M but it is understandable because a director needs to overpay people at the beginning because the company needs first to get stars, 0 stars = 0 perks.
You need to make a choice and decide what type of company is best for your playstyle but on the director side is another world. This last sunday i spent almost 3 hours recruiting people for my company but at least i also have a daily profit because it is a mining company, I absolutely don't envy directors who do the same exact thing i do but they run company at almost 0 profit or even at a loss.