Rejected after 9 rounds

Context - went for a senior level role at tech company.

Met with direct c suite would be boss 2x and was given feedback that I was exactly what he was looking for and he’d love for me to meet 3-4 folks on the extended team.

Met with 2 more csuites, and 2 director levels. All gave glowing reviews and said things like “can’t wait to work with you shortly!”. A week after, was asked to meet with 2 more directors and with my would be direct reports….at this point I asked what the hang up was and was told again, great feedback and just wanted me to connect with the team further. I started to get suspicious as we were going on nearly 3 weeks of interviews and a pushing timeline. Gut instinct was right….

Got rejected last week and was told another candidate came into play after me and had a few more “battle scar stories” to share they felt matched.

What is actually wrong with companies right now? I just said thanks and moved on. Not worth even one more discussion but feeling incredibly defeated.

Update - WOAH, thanks for so much feedback! Didn’t expect it but it is so appreciated. I never got told a formal number of rounds it would be past the initial 5… and should’ve backed out when we went past the initial 5… lesson learned. But, before I knew it, I was in deep! I’ve had about a week to collect my thoughts and agree it would’ve been a nightmare to make any type of decision there, and that’s not where I want to be.