UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION Washington, D.C. 20549 SCHEDULE 13G Under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (Amendment No. 2)* WORLD ACCEPTANCE CORPORATION (Name of Issuer) Common Stock, no par value (Title of Class of Securities) 981419 10 4 (CUSIP Number) December 31, 2000 (Date of Event which Requires filing of this Statement) Check the appropriate box to designate the rule pursuant to which this Schedule is filed: [ ] Rule 13d-1(b) [X] Rule 13d-1(c) [ ] Rule 13d-1(d) * The remainder of this cover page shall be filled out for a reporting person's initial filing on this form with respect to the subject class of securities, and for any subsequent amendment containing information which would alter the disclosures provided in a prior cover page. The information required in the remainder of this cover page shall not be deemed to be "filed" for the purpose of Section 18 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 ("Act") or otherwise subject to the liabilities of that section of the Act but shall be subject to all other provisions of the Act (however, see the Notes). CUSIP No. 981419104 13G ________________________________________________________________________________ 1 NAME OF REPORTING PERSONS I.R.S. IDENTIFICATION NO. OF ABOVE PERSONS (entities only) Thomas W. Smith ________________________________________________________________________________ 2 CHECK THE APPROPRIATE BOX IF A MEMBER OF A GROUP (a) [_] (b) [X] ________________________________________________________________________________ 3 SEC USE ONLY ________________________________________________________________________________ 4 CITIZENSHIP OR PLACE OF ORGANIZATION United States ________________________________________________________________________________ NUMBER OF 5 SOLE VOTING POWER SHARES 100,800 _________________________________________________________________ BENEFICIALLY 6 SHARED VOTING POWER OWNED BY 1,933,600 _________________________________________________________________ EACH 7 SOLE DISPOSITIVE POWER REPORTING 100,800 _________________________________________________________________ PERSON 8 SHARED DISPOSITIVE POWER WITH 1,933,600 ________________________________________________________________________________ 9 AGGREGATE AMOUNT BENEFICIALLY OWNED BY EACH REPORTING PERSON 2,034,400 ________________________________________________________________________________ 10 CHECK IF THE AGGREGATE AMOUNT IN ROW (9) EXCLUDES CERTAIN SHARES Not Applicable ________________________________________________________________________________ 11 PERCENT OF CLASS REPRESENTED BY AMOUNT IN ROW 9 10.9% ________________________________________________________________________________ 12 TYPE OF REPORTING PERSON IN ________________________________________________________________________________ -2- CUSIP No. 981419104 13G ________________________________________________________________________________ 1 NAME OF REPORTING PERSONS I.R.S. IDENTIFICATION NO. OF ABOVE PERSONS (entities only) Thomas N. Tryforos ________________________________________________________________________________ 2 CHECK THE APPROPRIATE BOX IF A MEMBER OF A GROUP (a) [_] (b) [X] ________________________________________________________________________________ 3 SEC USE ONLY ________________________________________________________________________________ 4 CITIZENSHIP OR PLACE OF ORGANIZATION United States ________________________________________________________________________________ NUMBER OF 5 SOLE VOTING POWER SHARES 0 _________________________________________________________________ BENEFICIALLY 6 SHARED VOTING POWER OWNED BY 1,933,600 _________________________________________________________________ EACH 7 SOLE DISPOSITIVE POWER REPORTING 0 _________________________________________________________________ PERSON 8 SHARED DISPOSITIVE POWER WITH 1,933,600 ________________________________________________________________________________ 9 AGGREGATE AMOUNT BENEFICIALLY OWNED BY EACH REPORTING PERSON 1,933,600 ________________________________________________________________________________ 10 CHECK IF THE AGGREGATE AMOUNT IN ROW (9) EXCLUDES CERTAIN SHARES* Not Applicable ________________________________________________________________________________ 11 PERCENT OF CLASS REPRESENTED BY AMOUNT IN ROW 9 10.4% ________________________________________________________________________________ 12 TYPE OF REPORTING PERSON IN ________________________________________________________________________________ -3- ITEM 1. (a) Name of Issuer: World Acceptance Corporation (b) Address of Issuer's Principal Executive Offices: 108 Frederick Street Greenville, SC 29607 ITEM 2. (a) Name of Person Filing: (i) Thomas W. Smith (ii) Thomas N. Tryforos The filing of this Statement shall not be deemed to be an admission that the filing persons comprise a "group" within the meaning of Section 13(d)(3) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. (b) Address of Principal Business Office: The following is the address of the principal business office of each of the filing persons: 323 Railroad Avenue Greenwich, CT 06830 (c) Citizenship: Each of Messrs. Thomas W. Smith and Thomas N. Tryforos is a United States citizen. (d) Title of Class of Securities: Common Stock, no par value (e) CUSIP Number: 981419 10 4 ITEM 3. If this Statement is filed pursuant to Rules 13d-1(b) or 13d-2(b) or (c), check whether the person filing is a: Not applicable. If this Statement is filed pursuant to Rule 13d-1(c), check this box [x] -4- ITEM 4. Ownership (a) Thomas W. Smith - 2,034,400 shares; Thomas N. Tryforos - 1,933,600 shares (b) Thomas W. Smith - 10.9%; Thomas N. Tryforos - 10.4% (c) Each of Thomas W. Smith and Thomas N. Tryforos has shared power to vote or to direct the vote and shared power to dispose or to direct the disposition of 1,933,600 shares; Thomas W. Smith has sole power to vote and dispose of 100,800 shares, and Thomas N. Tryforos has sole power to vote and dispose of no shares. ITEM 5. Ownership of Five Percent or Less of a Class Not applicable. ITEM 6. Ownership of More than Five Percent on Behalf of Another Person Messrs. Smith and Tryforos in the aggregate beneficially own 2,034,400 shares in their capacities as investment managers for certain managed accounts. The managed accounts have the right to receive dividends from, and the proceeds from the sale of, the managed accounts' shares. ITEM 7. Identification and Classification of the Subsidiary Which Acquired the Security Being Reported on By the Parent Holding Company Not applicable. ITEM 8. Identification and Classification of Members of the Group Not applicable. ITEM 9. Notice of Dissolution of Group Not applicable. ITEM 10. Certification By signing below, I certify that, to the best of my knowledge and belief, the securities referred to above were not acquired and are not held for the purpose of or with the effect of changing or influencing the control of the issuer of the securities and were not acquired and are not held in connection with or as a participant in any transaction having that purpose or effect. -5- Signature After reasonable inquiry and to the best of my knowledge and belief, I certify that the information set forth in this statement is true, complete and correct. Date: February 14, 2001 /s/ Thomas W. Smith ---------------------------------- Thomas W. Smith /s/ Thomas N. Tryforos ---------------------------------- Thomas N. Tryforos -6- JOINT FILING AGREEMENT The undersigned agree that the foregoing Statement on Schedule 13G, dated February 14, 2001, is being filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on behalf of each of the undersigned pursuant to Rule 13d-1(k) Dated: February 14, 2001 /s/ Thomas W. Smith ---------------------------------- Thomas W. Smith /s/ Thomas N. Tryforos ---------------------------------- Thomas N. Tryforos -7-